


Be Careful about Who Sees What Where

by Tatrin



Category: One Piece
Genre: Adorable Monkey D. Luffy, Badass Monkey D. Luffy, Canon won't be worshipped, Characters Watching Strawhat Pirates, Characters Watching Themselves, F/M, First Watching the Past Story, Gen, Lots of non-canon dialogues, Luffy Being Luffy, Luffy is very Luffy, M/M, No cliche-named OCs or self-inserts being all omniscient and sarcastic, One with actual plot behind it, _(°ω°｣ ∠)_ Pardon me it was impossible not to write BAMF Straw Hats.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 41,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23169955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tatrin/pseuds/Tatrin
Summary: "When my old Captain found One Piece," Shanks grinned, "Roger had arrived to this place with just his crew. The armies of marines trying to prevent his going to Raftel were eliminated before Roger reached Raftel currents. Luffy though, heheheh." In which the top dogs of the pirates, marines, revolutionaries and the princesses are going to witness Straw Hat Crew's Journey!
Relationships: Boa Hancock & Monkey D. Luffy, Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 51
Kudos: 230





	1. Raftel

**Author's Note:**

> Ask me anything decent on my tumblr [tatrinwhitewolf](https://tasaccitd03.tumblr.com/ask)

Sabo did not _like_ the look on the strongest Yonko's face. Shanks made a doctor's face when they were going to announce that the unassuming mole is actually the beginning stages of cancer, and this is a situation you will just have to resign yourself with. And do you know the worst part of being the recipient of that doctor's face? You cannot tell him wrong because he knows _so_ much more than you. "This is a serious invasion of privacy. _My baby brother's privacy_. And with the way he has made friends with everyone all over the seas over the course of his life this situation is going to uncover practically everyone's dark secrets and you're telling me there's nothing we can do but just watch?"

"It's not so much as Luffy's life but the Straw Hat Pirates' journey from the start," Shanks clarified, but knew that it did little to nothing in pacifying the Flamey Overprotective Brother Version Two's ire.

"You knew this, Red-Haired," Dragon spoke, shifting his position so that his back was no longer facing Sengoku, Aokiji and Smoker – the three marines present besides the pink-haired new Admiral and his father. "Why didn't you prevent it?"

"Start talking, you grandson-stealer," Garp muttered, his posture decidedly less tense compared to the other four marines. Sengoku loathed the face he was making, having recognized it. It was his friend's _I want to eat rice cracker now this is going nowhere boooooring_ face.

"When my old Captain found One Piece," the mention of Gol D. Roger no longer made most of the people present startle in fear. Not with how intense things have been the past few days. Not with how utterly chaotic the Straw Hat Pirates had rocked the entire world as they were discovered to be storming through Raftel, not so much as calling. Still, all their allies are converging and aiding them just as _hordes and hordes_ of marines and world government agents were racing to reach the _Thousand Sunny._ "Roger had arrived at this place with just his crew. The armies of marines trying to prevent his going to Raftel were eliminated _before_ Roger reached Raftel currents. Luffy though, heheheh," Shanks chuckled.

"Luffy-voy pretty vuch led all of us here just to vitness him becoming Pirate King!" Ivankov would have laughed as hard as he could, had his cheeks haven't been impaled by a spear and a sword on each side an hour ago. The tiny weapons were practically toothpicks impaling his skin, but it still hurts to pull off a full smile for a while, but he couldn't stop his body from shaking in humour.

The Straw Hats, originating from the weakest sea of the Four Blues, had riled up the world and dragged them towards the mysterious island called Raftel. The legendary place where once the marines arrived to finally catch the small but extremely destructive crew, the captain had all but ignored them in favour to battle with the only Yonko he hasn't defeated. Their allies and enemies raged against each other with neither Shanks nor Luffy caring, too focused on their chaotic personal one-on-one. The shore became a _mess –_ no other adjectives would work to describe the state it was left.

In the end, Straw Hat won.

And Luffy proceeded to laugh at EVERYONE'S faces before racing to the centre of the island with his crew.

An overzealous Bartolomeo barely followed the Surgeon of Death's blazing trail and Katakuri's wide footsteps. With unusual distress, marine officer Smoker went after them. He was followed by all the marines; Coby, Garp, Sengoku and Aokiji being the closest to him, along with revolutionaries Sabo, Ivankov and Dragon – both sides too taken off guard and frantic by Straw Hat craziness to come up with the thought of assassinating their enemies who were literally running side by side with them. They had to scatter like ants clambering up the walls when the mermaid princess Shirahoshi flew above them with an air bubble; Rebecca and Vivi with her royal pets and Shanks with his sniper holding onto the mermaid. Boa Hancock marched through frantically towards whom she cries as her husband while Crocodile growls angrily behind her—scrambling after them was Carrot who was extraordinarily giddy and Marco in his phoenix form flying high above.

They all arrived in time to see that all the Straw Hats, with their backs to them, bent slightly to touch _something_ and then they were blinded by the light.

Floating among blobs of colours that made Garp wish his old age made him blind already as if gravity was an impossible notion, the recently defeated yonko's awkward laughter prompted most of them to get him to spill the details.

Reactions varied, but the Revolutionary's Chief of Staff made the most violent one.

"Luffy's journey to be Pirate King..." Hancock murmured. Sengoku had known her the longest out of everyone present, and it was bizarre to see that her cheeks were often accompanied with rosy blushes every time Straw Hat was mentioned.

"Luffy-senpai's journey..." Bartolomeo's face was even more perturbing.

"Oh no, Luffy's adventure from the start," Coby paled, privately in extreme embarrassment for how he had been three years ago.

A part of Katakuri was thinking of how he's going to learn useful stuff. The fun side of him was thankful he could snack on himself, though how was he going to be able to tell the time in this space? He has a schedule! This is going to take a long time. But it would at least be _fun._

Ivankov didn't mind. The concept of privacy was kind of non-existent to him as his life has been a series of spying and being spied on from the start. If anything, he was _giddy_. A feeling that was visibly shared by the little bunny mink and the princesses present.

Crocodile too was giddy, but it was quickly offset once the thought of his humiliating defeat crossed his mind. Ah, well, not like no one in the world doesn't know it already.

Aokiji was mulling over how it would mean he gets to see Nico Robin's life. Sengoku was the same as the child whom his protege died for.

Dragon should think of ways to stop this but damn his sentimentality.

Yasopp had known this would happen, but like Shanks he didn't think he'd be here to witness it. It was supposed to be something only for the Straw Hats, but eh, they'd gotten everyone in on it, and he wasn't going to feel sorry to see his son's journey to be the best warrior of the sea.

Marco wasn't sure if the smile on his face was a grimace or not, but he was certainly interested. It's too bad Izou hadn't caught up to them. Or the other Whitebeard pirates. He knew what was going to lay down on the road, but in his opinion, this was going to be a closure.

Law... wasn't looking forward to any revelation on what happened at Dressrosa... or Punk Hazard... _we won't be getting any show on what happened at the submarine, would we...?_ His cheeks burned. Luckily, no one was watching him in particular.

Garp...

"BWAHWAHWAHWAHAWA! So we're gonna see the snot-nosed brat's trip from home to here? Can't wait!"

Shanks grinned. Anchor and his friends were definitely watching too, though on a different plane he supposed. He could imagine their reactions: ecstatic despite having no clue. He couldn't wait to see their faces after this.


	2. Befriending Marines (Zoro's Arc)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be too attached to canon. CANON WON'T BE WORSHIPPED HERE. There will be inconsistencies, I'm derailing this train here and there. Lines, characters, combat scenes – I pretty much added my own details because I do not memorise the entire One Piece episodes and volumes nor do I bother referencing them every time I write a line or a scene nor am I searching Wikipedia deeper than basic information on the locations. Myanimelist may list me to be on chapter 653, but I actually have only read Fishman Arc and skipped arcs immediately because KATAKURI (AND OH MY GOD, CARROT SU LONG and Brook is so light he CAN RUN ON THE WATER), and some funny scenes of One Piece fillers and all the clips featuring Luffy in Marineford Arc except for Ace dying because just the glimpse of it from flashbacks made me cry as bad as I did cry when I watched Coco (2017) and I can't handle it on internet sites where I have the power to skip scenes. If there are similarities with Mist of Memories, I've read that six times already since 2018 because THE MARINEFORD FEELS and I used it as some kind of template to fill out the holes of what I never figured out from fics or seen from youtube clips. However, I'm not plagiarizing or duplicating that amazing work. Never would be able too anyway, the audience here are not Luffy's crew, but a bunch of pirates, revolutionaries, marines, and royalties plus her pets. This story is subject to opinion after all, and in this case, me. Mostly featuring Luffy being awesome.
> 
> I think instead of life getting busy my enemy in writing this is Oda-san because what the hell CARROT SU LONG. I WAS SO TORN BECAUSE HE MADE LUFFY SAID HE'S GOING TO FIND ONE PIECE WITH ONLY 10 PEOPLE BUT IT'S LIKE AFTER CONFIRMING JINBEI'S GOING TO BE THE TENTH AFTER HE RESCUED LUFFY IN MARINEFORD ARC HE'S NOW MAKING CARROT VYING FOR THAT TENTH SPOT DESPITE NOT EVEN WRITING ANY SCENE WHERE CARROT IS FIGHTING JINBEI FOR IT AND IT'S ALL IN MY MIND!
> 
> *exhale* I got that out of my system by writing a section fic on it.
> 
> Btw, I want your opinion on how our non-Straw Hats should react to future scenes and if you have suggestions on their passive character building along the way. Luffy may look simple, BUT HE'S REALLY HARD TO WRITE—He's so complex! I had to do a full profile on him in the middle of writing this and have declared him to be mentally insane yet sane. #DFTBA
> 
> Ask me anything decent on [tumblr](https://tasaccitd03.tumblr.com/ask)

Shanks had experienced this phenomenon with his late Captain before, so he didn't flinch in surprise when what the Roger pirates assumed as 'preparations' were made so they can watch the man who declared he'd be the pirate king to an Emperor's face when he was just a six-year-old kid. You might expect couches and a giant screen, but what happened was the creepy sensation of being pushed by an invisible force, so all twenty-two people present stood upright upon _some_ sort of surface – however invisible.

The fluorescent bulbs of colour started to blend together until there was nothing but an expanse of blue. Clear blue sky, calm blue ocean—

**And a giant whirlpool right underneath them.**

More than half of them—which were Devil Fruit users—scrambled haphazardly or were impolite and panicked enough to jump on top of the biggest person there, Shirahoshi. Their mad scramble accompanied by Carue and Dugong's wails were done while they were temporarily blinded by ephemeral bright blue light as Marco promptly shifted into his phoenix form. Dragon lifted both Sabo and Ivankov with his wind, while his father and his apprentice automatically spread their hands and prepared to paddle.

Shanks laughed at them.

None splashed. Come to think of it, Shirahoshi couldn't even feel the ocean nor the whirlpool tugging her – not that it would even be able to drown a mermaid of her size.

The almost 49-year-old Sweet Commander was the first to be brave enough to copy the Red Emperor. With confidence he probably actually have inside his bones, he "stood" on top of the seawater. "Is this a dream?"

"Nope!" Shanks answered. "We're viewing Luffy's pirate life. Kind of like, being inside a memory? We can't affect anything here, and none can affect us either."

Sengoku jumped from Shirahoshi's massive tail too and grumped when his feet made contact with a mysterious, solid surface. "An amazing effect, I say."

The rest could agree. It was weird to see the ocean's calm waves beneath their feet while feeling as if they were standing on a floor. Quite disconcerting for the twelve Devil Fruit users among the group.

Shanks walked nearer to the centre of the whirlpool. It looked as if all but Shirahoshi were separated from touching the floor by an invisible glass. It was spiralling down, and the centre was pitch black. The sound it made was deafening, but the ocean around it was calm. Like... "This must be East Blue," Shanks concluded. Easily enough. It's what was expected after all. "Still, strange to see such a whirlpool in the calmest ocean of the Four Blues."

"I thought we'd be seeing Mugiwara-ya, here."

"Yes," Vivi looked around, not too anxiously. "There is nothing but a whirlpool and a barrel here—" Carue quacked loudly at her and manoeuvred her body to turn to a direction. "Oh, look, a ship!"

"A...cruise ship," Carrot tentatively observed. There were barely, if any, cruise ships in New World. The oceans of the second half of Grand Line were _way too_ chaotic for a simple passenger ship. "Right?" The musketeer got a nod from Rebecca.

**The cruise ship was sailing peacefully along the sea.**

None really had any idea of what to do so they mostly just watched the barrel bobbing away from the whirlpool towards it.

**The barrel bumped against the ship, and a few deckhands heard it. They caught the barrel and began to open it, believing it to be filled with rum. But before they could, a scream came from the crow's nest, and the cruise ship was being pelted by cannon shots.**

Turning their heads, their eyes jutted out of their sockets.

**The attacking ship which was sneaking out from the cover provided by a nearby island was coated in bright pink. Each of its four sails was decorated with pink hearts, and the figurehead was a straight-crafted swan. The ship looked no different than a toy given to a child. It looked like it was inspired by one of the little toy ship mass-produced to teach little kids about how 'yes, bad pirates can not only be men but also women' in schools.**

"I pity that ship's crew," Sabo commented, sweating.

"It's cute!" Carrot defended. But then her ears deflated. "Um, maybe _too_ cute."

**The cannons forced the deckhands to abandon the barrel and assist the others in defending. They were gunned down pretty quickly by a tall noirette in a cowgirl hat with a large red plume. She barked at her crew to pillage anything valuable in the cruise ship. Y'know, normal stuff, except for—**

**"Who's the most beautiful woman in the world?" The woman asked.**

**"You are, Lady Alvida!"**

**"That's right! Get to work faster, you wankers!"**

Garp was getting more irritated. He thought they were going to see his cute and dangerous grandson! Why the hell are they being shown some pirate doing a normal raid?

Right before he was going to manifest his ire by growling, their surroundings slowly blurred. It gained visibility soon after, and they were now on top of a wooden ship. Some stood. The giant mermaid was definitely outside and had to view the cabin interior through the small, heart-shaped windows on the sides of the ship. The freakishly tall ones like Katakuri and Ivankov? Only their upper bodies were visible.

Emporio Ivankov and Charlotte Katakuri looked down to see nothing but wooden floorboards. Their ankles disappeared under it. Katakuri moved his legs, and found he could easily move through the boards and take 'steps' to come to a higher position. Disconcerting, but nothing jarring for a person who lived in Totto Land.

**"Oi, weakling!" Someone yelled.**

The only reason said man wasn't impaled for his obtuseness was because he was clearly addressing the pink-haired teenage boy in the middle of the room.

 _Also, cause we can't actually affect anything here,_ Shanks thought.

 **The boy looked like he had been inspecting the wooden barrel** – _What's with the fucking barrel?_ – **and he also resembled Commander Coby. If he had a bowl hair cut and glasses completing his much less muscled body.**

"That your younger brother or you?" Yasopp asked, even though everyone knew the answer already.

"That was me."

"You look so... chubby!" Shirahoshi voiced her opinion. And it was true, especially with the huge, round glasses perched on his nose. The boy's body language was extremely timid, like he was expecting someone to jump him at any second. Which, well, he just _was_. Garp's training clearly changed him. "You are very different now, marine-san."

"This has got to be that Alvida's ship? Why was a marine like you here with these pirates?" Marco asked.

"I wasn't always a marine, Phoenix-san," Coby replied.

"So, Luffy-senpai met you this far back," Bartolomeo said, glancing between Coby and... memory-Coby.

**The pirates laughed openly at Coby's face. "We'd be a decade older by the time you're lightening the load. Get out of the way, shrimp." The pirate unsheathed his sword and positioned it so that the tip was pointing at the barrel. Coby jumped in fear and backed away, leaving room for the other two to circle around the barrel.**

**"Wait, what are you doing?" Coby cried. "Lady Alvida will kill us if you're sneaking off supplies!"**

**"Keep your trap shut and she ain't gonna!"**

**"Hey, get your sword out of sight. I wanna open this the old fashioned way."**

Shanks raised an eyebrow when the pirate held his fist high. "What an idiot. Break a barrel of liquor. Shame."

**Well, it broke, alright. No thanks to any external factor, but from within. Something burst out and smashed the lid to pieces, and the smiling face of young Monkey D. Luffy emerged.**

It was a good smile, and Law was kind of jealous because it was the smile of a person who had a good night's sleep.

**"I SLEPT SO WELL!"**

"He was in the barrel all along?!" Similar exclamations were made alongside laughter when Luffy, without realizing, accidentally knocked out the pirate who was going to smash the tiny container he had been sleeping inside of.

Luffy looked so... well, not as different as the current Coby with Coby in the past. But there were visible differences alright. He looked so wiry, and not as muscled as he was now. Shanks recalled the freshest memory of Luffy he had – the one from their battle. He remembered grabbing Luffy's arm in an attempt to tie it with the other into a pretzel because dislocating it was a stupid move against a rubber man. Luffy's skin lacks the callouses that were normal for all pirates, but they weren't soft at all. Too used and too toughened from returning bullets and cannonballs with twice the force. Unlike Coby whose chin was sharper than Coby in the past, Luffy's face remained the same. Despite the scar under his left eye, even after two years he still looked too cute to be masculine. Messy and darker than black hair with wide obsidian eyes – if his body wasn't so blatantly male, Luffy would look pretty feminine. And with this amazing first impression, Shanks felt fondness knowing that Luffy was still the same troublemaker despite everything he had gone through.

"Isn't that mine?" Sabo blurted out. It made them turn to face him.

"Vat do you mean vat's yours-buru?" Ivankov asked.

A blush adorned his cheeks. "Nothing. Just... I'm pretty sure that's my vest." Sabo chuckled. "Lu must have raided my old place." Well, if his brother hadn't looted the things he left behind, Sabo would have been disappointed.

"Wasn't there a whirlpool?" Shirahoshi said. _See?_ Shanks grinned.

"Does that mean he came out of a whirlpool?!" Vivi cried.

"He's not human, then?" Crocodile jabbed.

"I wish I could sleep that good," Sabo chuckled.

 **Luffy dragged a long yawn** – Dugong, Carue, and Carrot were contaminated and yawned too, despite not being sleepy at all – **and after stretching out (in a normal way), he looked at the scene around him. "Hey," Luffy addressed the pirates. "Your friend will catch a cold sleeping like that." He stepped out of the barrel casually.**

**"You're the one who knocked him out!"**

**"Who're you guys?"**

**"Who the hell are you?!"**

**Luffy ignored them and turned to Coby. "Who're you?"**

**"Are you ignoring us?! Do you not know we're vicious pirates?!"**

**"I'm starving." Luffy smiled sweetly. "Got any food?"**

_Oh, Luffy, if only I can interact with you now, I'll feed you!_ Hancock thought.

"Does he ever wake up and not ask about food first?" Law sighed.

"Oh, he can. To ask about his hat!" Vivi answered with a cheer. "But the second question he asked was about food."

**"We're talking to you!" The pirates attacked Luffy with their swords. But the fight was over very quickly.**

Carue and Shirahoshi were the only two who failed to see what just happened because their eye-reflexes weren't as trained as everyone else brought to see this.

**The pirates couldn't see Luffy moving either, but they were very aware of** _**what** _ **Luffy did. However low-quality their swords were, they were made from steel. And they were snapped in two. They fell on their butts, terror in their faces and stared up at Luffy, also noticing the halves of their swords were embedded into the ceiling.**

**"What's wrong with you two?" Luffy looked annoyed as he asked them.**

**"Who...who are you?"**

**"Me? I'm Monkey D. Luffy," Luffy said happily, his annoyance disappearing in a blink of an eye. "Hi!"**

**They ran away.**

"Vat a nice introduction done vy the Virate King," Ivankov laughed. "Knock out their friend, ignore them, break their swords with nothing but his bare hands-buru."

"This Alvida merely recruited a pathetic crew," Aokiji snorted.

**Coby looked rather pathetic too. His knees were shaking, and he was observing Luffy by peeking through his fingers which were also trembling. "What just happened?"**

**"You got me," Luffy pointed at the destroyed barrel with his thumb.**

**Then Coby started freaking out. "You gotta run away! They're gonna come back with Lady Alvida, and she'll kill you!"**

**"I'm just hungry," Luffy sniffed the air, seeing if he could smell where the food is.**

**"How can you say that so calmly?!"**

**Luffy paid him no mind. He headed towards the nearest door, easily dragging Coby who was trying to hold him back crying out that they should hide somewhere. Luffy kept sniffing while he walked.**

They followed him. Very easily, after getting over the shock that they could pass through the walls. Shirahoshi simply poked her head to follow the small captain. When Luffy arrived at the storage room, her nose bumped against Carrot who just jumped across the room they were into the food storage room.

**The storage room was filled with crates of food. Luffy grinned in happiness and began to eat in earnest, looking like a man who just found heaps of gold and valuables. Behind him, Coby kept asking questions.**

"Ace's baby brother looks so focused on eating," Marco said. "I'm not sure he's even listening to you, Coby."

"He wasn't," Coby answered.

 _He definitely wasn't_ , Smoker deadpanned.

**Still chewing, his twelfth apple probably, Luffy voiced his question and finally gave Coby attention. "Yo. We in a pirate ship or what?"**

**"No, we're on a cruise ship that's being raided by pirates," Coby explained. "Pirates of Lady Alvida's."**

**"Don't know her. Any extra boats here?"**

"He's going to escape? Doesn't sound like him," Law said.

**"You're going to escape?"**

Law rolled his eyes from whoever snickered at this.

**"Mine's gone. I only had that barrel in the end."**

**"How'd you end up in a barrel?"**

**Luffy hummed, poking his chin with a strawberry jam-tainted nail.**

The scene blurred again. Dragon narrowed his eyes at how uninformative this feature was. They soon found themselves outside again, in the sea, but this time, they were near Luffy.

**"Ah, the weather is pretty nice today." They heard Luffy say airily. He seemed to be daydreaming. "On such a nice day like this, who would have thought I would get into such a disaster."**

"Who's he talking too?" Rebecca whispered to Vivi.

"What is he talking about?" Vivi asked back.

"Definitely that giant whirlpool his boat's heading to," Sengoku said in a deadpan voice.

**Indeed, Luffy's boat was getting sucked into the giant whirlpool.**

"That baboon's navigation skill is a lump of fat gut," Law concluded.

"He's not at all concerned he can't swim, is he?" Vivi sighed dejectedly. But her pets looked like they were saluting Luffy's terrible tutorial of what to do when you are facing a whirlpool.

**"How careless of me," Luffy sounded way too calm for a person in his situation. The boat was already tilted, and it was going to take another ten seconds before he was going to drown inside that pitch-black hole.**

"Why isn't the idiot doing anything?!" Law blew up. Straw Hat always made him lose his cool. As if prompted by Law's outburst, Luffy got up from his sitting position.

**Luffy opened the barrel in his little rowboat. He leaned inside to pick up something at the bottom. It was jackfruit. Eating it, Luffy climbed into the barrel and sealed it shut just as his boat drowned at the centre.**

Everything blurred, and they were all back inside the food storage room.

**Coby's jaw had dropped.**

"Garp, your grandson, is mentally insane!" Sengoku declared.

"Don't blame me. Blame my son's mutated genes!"

"Dad, it's your abuse that ruined his common sense," Dragon grinned nastily. His son was _so cool_. To think he started his adventure like that!

"My heart's going to drop if my future husband's doing this on a daily basis," Hancock whispered to herself.

**"How about you? You a passenger or one of her pirates?"**

**Coby flinched. "I-I** _**wish** _ **I was just a passenger. I've been Lady Alvida's prisoner ever since I accidentally came inside this boat for two years. The only reason I'm alive is that I'm pretty good at navigating."**

**"You mistook a pirate ship for what? You're pretty stupid, you know that?" Luffy chuckled.**

Coby winced at Luffy's brand of harsh honesty. He wasn't being mean or cruel, he was just saying it like it was. And it was jarring. Shirahoshi knew the feeling too. Also Vivi. Law and Hancock got the brunt of it a lot of times. And also—well, everyone here really.

**"Thanks for your honesty."**

**"If you hate it here, then leave," Luffy said. The crate of apples were now empty. The crate of oranges and watermelons too. Coby spied at the seeds Luffy had been spitting out while telling his story. The boy opened another crate—bread in Bobo plastic.**

Law gagged inside.

**"Are you kidding?" Coby cried out and shook his head violently. "I've seen what she does to anyone who tried to escape! No way! Not a chance! She'd beat my head to mush alive! Just the thought of Lady Alvida finding me scares me so bad I wanna throw up!" He looked completely afraid.**

"You were such a crybaby," Garp grunted. Coby pouted in embarrassment.

**"Oh, so you're an idiot and a coward!" Luffy laughed, eating his fourth chocolate-filled bread. "I hate people like you!"**

**This caused Coby to be tearful.**

"Strange," Aokiji said. "I would have thought Straw Hat would help you on the spot."

"Isn't it what he does? Helping people left and right?" Crocodile muttered.

"Nah," Law replied. "Helping's never his M.O. Moron just does what he felt like."

Shirahoshi nodded, though not to anyone in particular. Luffy-san was not a hero and refused to be one. He's more likely to help people help themselves, like how he helped her help herself to be strong.

Sabo... tilted his head in wonder. Luffy seemed to act _a lot_ like Ace. The way Luffy was treating Coby in the past reminded him of how _Ace treated Luffy_ back in Dawn Island. He hadn't noticed at first because Luffy lacked Ace's cruelty. Blunt and harsh all the same, but Ace also did it to be _mean_. Luffy just wasn't.

**Tearful, yes, but he got quiet in the face of Luffy's expectation for a response. "You're right," Coby muttered. "You're right, though. You're so better than me. You got away from** _**a whirlpool** _ **. If only I was brave enough to drift in a sea in a barrel. I've always wanted..." He trailed off. "Um, Luffy-san, what brought you out to sea?"**

**"Oh, I'm the future Pirate King," Luffy said with a smile.**

A lot of them smirked at how self-assured Luffy was even back then. Sabo broke into laughter at the same time as Shanks. Man, how he missed Luffy's casual declaration. He just said it like he was.

**"PIRATE KING?!"**

**"Yup!"**

**"That means you're a pirate?" Coby asked in disbelief. Which was, eh, warranted enough. Luffy didn't look like your typical pirate. Too childish, too skinny, too young, too naive.**

**But he sent Lady Alvida's pirates running with their tails between their legs.**

**"Right."**

**"I thought you were a good person!"**

**"I returned a lost stuffed doll right** **back** **to** **its owner and gained an obsessive stalker who immediately found out where I live, where I go to train, where I hang out, where I do everything. I am** _ **never**_ **doing good deeds for society again. Damn the mayor's advice!" Luffy forwent chewing and just swallowed the entire pack of hors d'oeuvre cupcakes.**

They laughed—what a valid reason to refuse to be an exemplary citizen.

**"Your crew?"**

**"Haven’t got one, but I'm currently looking for my musician!"**

Coby mulled over this rare chance for an extreme introspection. "I pitched him my desperate situation with my navigation skill being the only thing that kept me alive, but he didn't even consider recruiting me once."

"He has a fucked up priority in recruiting," Katakuri said.

"Don't I know it," Vivi offered.

**Coby began to panic. "A Pirate King is someone who has everything in the world! Fame, wealth, power! You're after the One Piece!"**

**"Yeah," Luffy said. He seemed quite bored, continuing to eat through the sixth crate.**

**"Impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, absolutely impossible!" Coby frantically yelled as he shook his head rapidly. "It would be impossible to stand on top in this Great Pirate Era! King of the Pirates is a title for the one who has everything the world has to offer! Pirates from all over the world are looking for that too! You can't possibly beat all of them! It can't be done! Impossible, impossible—!" A harsh punch to the right side of his head sent Coby to the floor.**

They blinked. Coby winced. Wow, was he a dramatic wimp. He really deserved that lump.

**"Why did you hit me!?" Coby exclaimed as he rubbed his injured head.**

**"Just 'cause," Luffy answered.**

**Coby sniffed. He sat up from his downed position slowly. "It's okay. I'm used to it anyway."**

**Luffy touched his hat in a manner that was totally opposite to how he had been acting so far. He did it gently. "It's not about if it's possible or not. I do it 'cause I want to." He cheerily hummed as he took the straw hat off and spun it. "If I die fighting to be Pirate King, then I die."**

"Oh, Luffy..." Hancock blushed heavily.

They stare at him in quiet awe—at his conviction, much like memory-Coby. People say bull all the time, but Luffy's selflessness to chase his dreams had them taken aback.

When a man really desires a thing so deeply he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it; he is sure to win. Because people saw he had made up his mind to stand by until he succeeded.

**Seeing his conviction made Coby seriously think about what** _**he wanted** _ **... and wondering if he was willing to really fight for it.**

**Putting the hat back on, Luffy turned to leave, ready to go look for a boat he can use.**

**"Not afraid to die," Coby whispered. It was quiet, but it got Luffy's attention. "Maybe I can join the marines."**

**"Marines?" Luffy asked in surprise.**

**"That's right. My dream is to be a marine! I want to catch bad guys who hurt good people! It has been my dream since my childhood!" Coby yelled, nearing tears. "Can I do it?"**

"Like he'd answer," Rebecca pouted.

**"How would I know? I ain't you." Luffy answered honestly with a chuckle.**

**"No, I will!" Coby exclaimed as he pumped his arms up. "I'm going to get out of here and stop working as a slave to Lady Alvida! No, I'll catch Alvida!"**

**As soon as he said that, the ceiling to the storage room collapsed and the female captain came. She brought a giant iron mace in her hands, and she completely towered over Luffy and Coby. "Who are you going to catch!?" Alvida asked Coby in a booming voice.**

**All bravado fled, and Coby looked like he was going to pass out from fear.**

**Alvida glared at Coby before she turned her attention towards Luffy. She gave the boy pirate a long look before smirking. "You're not the Pirate Hunter, Zoro."**

**Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "Zoro?"**

"Ah, so that's how he first heard of Samurai-san," Vivi exclaimed. "He was the only one – besides Luffy – who wouldn't share stories about how they met."

"Was it embarrassing or private?" Carrot asked.

"Neither, they simply hold little care to tell details about what's in the past."

**Alvida turned her attention back towards Coby. "Coby, who's the most beautiful woman on these seas?"**

"She's really serious about that question?" Vivi voiced.

Ivankov. "How terribly insecure of her-buru."

 _There's probably no mirror in her ship if she needs to ask that all the time,_ Katakuri grinned.

**Coby stuttered to answer. "Well...that would be, of course..."**

**"Hey, Coby, who's this man?"**

**Luffy bluntly asked as he pointed at Alvida.**

**Both Coby and Alvida's jaws dropped in shock.**

Meanwhile some of them burst into laughter. Luffy looked so innocent asking it as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

**"M-M-M-M-M-MAN?!" Alvida exploded. "I'M A WOMAN!"**

**"Oh! Like Dadan!" Luffy grinned. "You're truly a man among man!"**

Sabo fell onto the floor, shaking in laughter. He was vaguely aware that half of his body was "inside" a crate—intangible, and that Shirahoshi looked at him strangely before poking her finger through the walls and crates idly. He just, _wow_ , he didn't realise how much he missed their reluctant foster mother.

**Veins started to appear on Alvida's head. "You brat!" she roared in a fury. She brought her mace up and was ready to crush Luffy's skull in. Luffy easily evaded the attack and jumped towards Coby.**

**"Let's go!" Luffy yelled, grinning, as he grabbed Coby's arm. He bent his knees and jumped so high that he exited through the hole Alvida made earlier.**

**As soon as he was out of the storage room, Alvida's pirate crew attempted to attack him. Luffy had been knocking one by one with ease as he dragged Coby along, but soon they separated the two boys and surrounded Luffy. The noiret's lips quirked as he spied an opening and promptly ran for it while yelling. His left hand grabbed hold of the mast and but he kept running. He kept running farther away from the pirates and yelling (but he could no longer fake it as a scream filled with fear because it quivered with barely repressed laughter) and all the while his left arm stretched.**

They laughed at the dumbfounded look on the pirates face at seeing Luffy's powers. Then Luffy stopped yelling.

**The straw-hatted boy looked back at them with a devilish grin, "Just kidding!" He jumped. Nothing high. Just enough to have no more footing on the ground and Luffy soon bowled over all of them.**

"He doesn't care that they were holding swords and spiked maces, does he?" Aokiji mentioned.

"Reckless and stupid," Sengoku harrumphed. _And Garp wanted him to be a marine!_

**During the entire fight, Luffy was blatantly just playing them. Most of the fight was just him throwing the crew around like rag dolls. Very boring to watch for them who had seen how much stronger Luffy is now.**

**"Luffy... What** _**are** _ **you?" Coby asked.**

**Luffy happily grabbed his cheek. Then he stretched it farther than what was normal. "I'm a rubber man."**

**"Rubberman...?" Coby repeated in disbelief. He was completely unaware that Alvida was now standing behind him.**

**Alvida gave a loud grunt, gaining Coby's attention. He turned around and squealed when he saw the female pirate. Coby quickly ran behind Luffy for protection.**

**"You ate a Devil Fruit, right?" Alvida asked, although she already knew the answer.**

**"Yup! I ate the Gum Gum Fruit," Luffy confirmed.**

**"Is that so? I've heard rumours about it, but I didn't think they actually existed," Alvida said in mild wonderment.**

"'Rumours'? How could she think Devil Fruits as a myth? It's a common item," Crocodile questioned.

"Yeah, common in Grand Line," Yasopp replied. "Any Devil Fruit users in the Four Blues naturally went to the Pirate Graveyard, so it's a rare thing to find in the Four Blues. And this is the _East_ B lue."

"The year we stayed there for a break," Shanks added, "There are not many pirates sailing around. Most of the criminals in East Blue are just bandits."

**"Are you a bounty hunter?"**

**"I'm a pirate," Luffy corrected.**

**"Pirate?" Alvida scoffed. "Just you?"**

**"It's just me right now, but I'll find nine more people eventually," Luffy answered cheerfully.**

"So he _was_ planning to take on the entire world with just ten people," Katakuri smirked. "And here I thought he sucked at recruiting."

**Alvida laughed at him.**

**"Lu...Luffy, run..." Coby whispered in fear.**

**"Why?" Luffy asked.**

**"You saw the power of her mace. This person is..." Coby suddenly stopped himself in mid-sentence.**

**"What were you about to say, Coby?" Alvida asked with a wide grin on her face.**

**Taking a quick glance at Luffy, Coby's eyes burned with determination. "The ugliest woman in the entire world!"**

"That was very mean of you, marine-san!" Shirahoshi scolded.

"Yeah, she's hardly the _ugliest_ ," Shanks said dryly.

"That's not the point!"

**Alvida's eyes blackened in anger.**

**Luffy laughed loudly. He was actively laughing so hard to the point that he was clenching his chest.**

**"What did you say!?" Alvida demanded.**

**"I'm going to become a marine and fight pirates like you!" Coby yelled as he gained more courage. "I will join the marines and capture your lousy ass first!"**

**This sent Alvida over the edge. "You're dead, brat!" she yelled as she raised her mace, ready to smash Coby through the ship.**

**Coby froze in fear and gave a loud scream.**

"That scream definitely ruined your speech, brat!" Garp barked.

**"Well said!" Luffy exclaimed as he pushed Coby of the way and took the full force of Alvida's mace.**

**Despite the mace having spikes on it, they were obviously not well sharpened since there was no blood on Luffy's head and he showed no signs of pain.**

**Luffy smiled. "Doesn't hurt at all~!"**

**"What?!" Alvida exclaimed in disbelief.**

**"I'm a rubber!" Luffy yelled as he knocked Alvida's mace upwards, leaving her completely open. Luffy pulled his arm back. "Gum Gum Pistol!"**

**With one punch to the gut, Alvida went flying off the cruise ship and into the sea like a cannonball. Her crew was left completely shell-shocked.**

**Luffy turned to address Alvida's crew. "Hey, give Coby a boat. He's leaving to join the marines."**

Rebecca stared at Luffy's extreme mood-swing. "How can Lucy just do that?"

 _Lucy?_ They wondered if they had misheard her.

**None of Alvida's crew argued.**

"He doesn't even sound threatening!" Sabo chuckled.

**The pirates rushed to find them a boat. They worked quicker when the marines finally arrived to take care of the raided cruise passengers. Luffy and Coby had to make a quick exit and dumped the boat unceremoniously into the sea with them in it.**

**As they landed in the water, something caught the edge of Luffy's eye. He turned his head to see a young woman who was also in the water. They both stared at each in shock, obviously not expecting one another.**

"Oh! Is that not Nami-chin?" Shirahoshi brightened.

"I forgot Luffy's navigator sported the cute short cut," Shanks grinned. "She sure looks different now."

"So Luffy recruited her first, huh?"

"No, he didn't!" Bartolomeo said.

**As the water current tugged them away from each other, they both broke eye contact.**

"Huh, guess not," Carrot said.

**In a while, Luffy and Coby were merely sailing peacefully across the sea. Luffy looked like he had had fun, while Coby was glancing back and forth between the straw-hatted boy and the Alvida's ship – wondering how he just got free of pirates but got stuck(?) with another one, and eventually settled on being relieved.**

**"We got away somehow," Coby sighed in relief.**

**Luffy giggled. "That was fun!"**

"Maybe the little shit's really not human," Crocodile muttered. "Every battle's just normal fun for him."

"Not always," Marco glanced at him sideways. It didn't take long for Crocodile to remember the shameful disaster in Marineford.

He hmmphed. "Guess not."

**Coby perked up, "Hey Luffy, if the One Piece is your goal, that means you're heading towards the Grand Line, right?"**

**"Yeah," Luffy said, smiling happily.**

**"D-don't you know that place is called a pirate's graveyard?" Coby said in concern.**

**"That's why I need a strong crew," Luffy said before he paused for a moment in thought. "That pirate hunter, what kind of guy is he?"**

**"You mean Zoro?" Coby asked. "I heard he had been captured by the marines."**

**Luffy sighed in disappointment, "Oh, he's weak then."**

_Weak? That brat cost me three toes!_ Sengoku thought in ire.

"How did the Demon Hunter got caught?" Marco asked.

"He wasn't always "the Demon Hunter", obviously," Hancock said.

 _They probably caught him because he was sleeping_ , Vivi sweatdropped. _Samurai-san spent so much time sleeping Usopp-kun acted like the first mate most of the time._ Carue quacked in delight, already guessing what his princess was thinking.

**"Not at all!" Coby yelled in terror. "He's a terrifying beast! Why are you asking about him?"**

**Luffy smiled. "If he's a nice guy, I thought I'd make him part of my crew."**

Katakuri picked his ear, making sure he had heard that right. "If he's a _nice guy_?"

" _That's_ his requirement?" Crocodile sneered.

**"He's not a nice guy! Roronoa Zoro is known as the Pirate Hunter. I've heard rumours that he's a bloodthirsty hound. He wonders around the sea and hunts down fugitives like a rabid dog. He's a terrible demon."**

**"I haven't decided yet if I'm going to recruit him," Luffy said honestly. "But if he's a good person..."**

**"He's arrested because he's bad!" Coby snapped.**

"How naive," Hancock sniffed.

Coby brushed it away. He knew where he was wrong, accepted it and moved along. All of what they're going to see here is _over_ , and he wasn't going to be ashamed. He learned his lessons from his impossible friend.

"You aspire to be a marine, and yet you followed a pirate you met less than 10 minutes ago?" Aokiji questioned.

The marine commander ducked in embarrassment.

**"If he hunts pirates shouldn't you consider him a good guy?" Luffy asked. "Wasn't that what you shouted? You wanna catch pirates."**

**"M-maybe, but Roronoa Zoro brings his bounties dead even though they could be turned in alive. And most of the time he delivered them sliced to bits! And I've heard he doesn't care about collateral damage and burnt down a town!" And so on and so on Coby went, listing Zoro's terrible qualities Luffy was deaf to because they're all based on rumours.**

**It took them a while, but the two boys eventually reached an island with a large marine base stationed on the far side. When they docked, Luffy immediately jumped out of the boat in excitement, not even waiting for Coby to finish tying the boat to the dock.**

**"We're here! The town where the marines are!" Luffy cheered. In front of him was a large marine base on the other side of the island.**

"He shouldn't be excited to arrive in a town of marines, he's a pirate," Vivi sighed.

"He wasn't a pirate _yet_ ," Sabo replied.

Dragon nodded. "No bounty assigned for his head. No marines were aware of his 'profession'. No jolly roger yet."

**"I'll definitely get my bounty there!" Luffy grinned but then paused. "Hmmmmmmm. But Makino said I shouldn't get in trouble right off the bat. I won't be able to trick them to giving me free meat!"**

"I seriously lost to this _kid_?" Crocodile grumbled.

**"I wonder if Zoro is inside the base?" Luffy wondered out loud.**

**This caused the people in his vicinity to panic and jumped back in fear.**

"Wow, what did Mihawk's little protégé do to this town?" Shanks wondered.

**"It seems Zoro's name is taboo," Coby whispered to Luffy.**

**They resumed their walk again.**

**"Anyway, let's head towards the base. You want to be a marine, right?" Luffy asked.**

**"Yes, but I don't think I'm ready yet," Coby said timidly. "I've heard Lieutenant Morgan is in charge of this base."**

**This also caused the people in his vicinity to panic and jumped back in fear.**

Law sent a smirk at Sengoku, "If their reaction to the marine's the same as the demon hunter, you can't deny something down the drain has gone wrong."

**A few more minutes of walking and the two boys reached their destination. It took time mostly because Luffy was taking the slow route. The building was in plain sight, surrounded by a huge stone wall. They were standing by a big iron gate that was engraved with 'marine'.**

**"Alright, this is the place," Luffy said as they stood at the entrance.**

"He looks like he's just gonna waltz in knocking."

**"I'm finally here," Coby said with tears in his eyes. He'd started to say more, but Luffy walked away from him and climbed the wall that leads to the marine base. He started to look around.**

**"Now, where's that demon?" Luffy asked cheerfully. After searching for a few seconds, something caught Luffy's eye. There was a person out on the open field not too far from the main gate.**

**"There he is!" Luffy exclaimed in excitement as he jumped off the wall and ran to the other end of the base.**

**Once he had arrived at his new location, he climbed the wall again and saw a man tied to a pole that was in the shape of a cross.**

**Zoro looked awful. The greenish-black bandana wrapped around his forehead was the only thing that seemed decent, for the entirety of his garment was filthy and stained. His usually lightly tanned skin looked sickly from dehydration. He was tied up to a cross and hung limply.**

**Despite the way he looked, which should have confirmed Luffy's assumption that the Demon Hunter was weak and by all logic, the boy should move on, Luffy visibly perked up. Because, to the trained eyes, Zoro's eyes were looking quite deadly.**

Care hastily went over towards the swordsman, but the duck's attempt to help the green-haired man that often slept on the decks of _Going Merry_ was for nought, for its wings were simply intangible and had no effect.

**On the other hand, Coby looked terrified despite Zoro's state.**

**"If we untie his ropes, he can escape, right?" Luffy asked Coby.**

**"Don't do a stupid thing like that!" Coby yelled in fright. "What do you think will happen once we let him go!? He'll kill you!"**

**"No problem, I'm strong," Luffy said dismissively, making Coby nearly fell off the wall.**

**A wooden ladder suddenly appeared on the wall. Coby cut off whatever protest he was going to voice to Luffy as a young girl with brown hair in pigtails donning a purple shirt, and white hoodie climbed the ladder. She used a rope to climb down the stone wall rather easily despite wearing a skirt. She ran over to Zoro, holding something in her hands.**

**"She's in danger—!" Coby hissed, but Luffy held his shirt back from jumping over their cover in a brave attempt to rescue a girl who willingly walked towards the perceived danger. "Luffy! What are you doing? He's going to kill her!"**

**"She's like eight. She can take care of herself."**

**Coby looked furious.**

Sengoku also looked furious.

**"She's just a normal girl! She can't stand against a bounty hunter!"**

**"Eh? Sabo and Ace and I were doing fine..." Luffy whispered. Coby didn't hear him as he was too frantic in chewing his nails.**

"Sabo-san, you three used to fight against bounty hunters when you're eight?"

"Erm, not always, well, sort of, technically..." Sabo trailed off, facepalming at Luffy's lack of concern for a child. Kind of like Garp's—

No. No. Not going there.

**"What?" Zoro asked impatiently.**

**"Aren't you hungry? I made you some rice balls," the girl kindly said as she held out her package.**

"That's sweet/reckless of her," Vivi and Smoker said at the same time. The two glanced at each other before shrugging. Both adjectives were right in any case.

**"You're going to get killed," Zoro said bluntly. "Go away."**

**The girl just unwrapped the two rice balls and held them out again for Zoro to see better. "I owe you. Please, you haven't eaten anything for twenty-one days!"**

Yasopp whistled.

"What would a little girl owe a man like him?" Smoker muttered.

**Zoro was clearly tempted by the delicious smell, but his eyes hardened again. He leaned away and even turned his head from her offering. "I'm not hungry."**

**The girl's eyes became teary. "But..."**

**"Don't make me kick your ass little girl!" Zoro raised his voice.**

Zoro's harsh yell startled Dugong from his position. While the seal flailed, Vivi looked like she wanted to yell to, even though Zoro won't be able to hear anything she says.

**"Tsk, you shouldn't bully kids, Roronoa Zoro." Zoro refused to look at the direction where the teasing voice came from, and Luffy and Coby realised Zoro had seen the man coming up behind the little girl from afar. He was a weak-looking man, but he strode over as if he was the biggest fish in the pond. The ten different marines accompanying him probably fed that visible ego.**

**"Oh, thank God, the girl is safe now," Coby sighed in relief.**

**Luffy merely tilted his head to the side.**

**The man who appeared, a teenager really, noticed the girl. "Oh, a rice ball." Rudely, he snatched one of the rice balls from the girl.**

**"No!" The girl shouted, but the guy already took a big bite out of the rice ball. He chewed twice, before spitting it out in front of her.**

**"Nasty!" He screamed as he stuck out his tongue. Her teary eyes now let go of the water in her eyes freely, and she flinched when the marine turned angrily at her. "There's too much sugar! Rice balls need salt! Salt!"**

**"I-I thought it would taste better if it's sweet."**

**Helmeppo knocked the remaining rice ball out of the girl's hands and stomped it into the ground.**

**"Stop, stop!" The girl pleaded.**

"What a fine example of marines," Law drawled. Inwardly, he was... seething. The girl was a brunette in pigtails, and she reminded him of Lami.

The marine they were seeing wasn't here with them, but Smoker knew of Coby's friend—how they came to be one he could only wonder and perhaps wait. "If I'm not mistaken, that's Helmeppo," Smoker said to Coby.

"Yes..."

"Even if it vas too sveet, that man needn't ruin her first food-buru," Ivankov crossed his arms. "If Sanji-voy vas here he would explode in rage for sure!"

**Helmeppo stomped on it one last time and was stupid enough to be satisfied when there was nothing left of the rice ball except a smudge on the ground.**

**The girl knelt before her ruined rice ball. "I... worked so hard..."**

**At some point, Zoro had faced them, but he offered no words for the girl.**

**"You made this for the prisoner?" Helmeppo grunted. "Don't you know? Anyone who helps any prisoner shall be executed by order of Lieutenant Morgan."**

**She shook in fear.**

**"You know my father, right?" Helmeppo asked cockily.**

"He looks too smug for just bullying a little kid," Marco said.

"He's not going to beat her up, is he?" Rebecca really wished she could fling her sword at this 'marine'.

**"Throw her out," the blond ordered one of his men. He either ignored or didn't notice how they weren't really by his side, as the marine recoiled at the order with visible reluctance. But apparently, he did, and Helmeppo grabbed said marine by the collar. "I'm telling you to throw her out! Are you disobeying my order? I'll tell my daddy!"**

"Yeeeeah, that last word ruined it," Shanks raised an eyebrow.

**"Yes, right away, sir..." The marine said. He walked towards the frightened girl. He grabbed the girl gently by her dress and whispered, "I'm sorry," before he tossed her over the gate.**

**She didn't hit the ground. Her scream was cut short as she felt herself hitting something—not as soft as a pillow, but not hard enough to hurt her by impact either. She opened her eyes to see Luffy grinning brightly at her.**

**Zoro growled.**

**Helmeppo laughed at him. "You're really stubborn to still be alive."**

**"Yeah, I will live through the entire month," Zoro proclaimed with certainty.**

**This caused Helmeppo to laugh again. "Well, do your best."**

**"Ten more days left," Zoro reminded him.**

**"Only if you live that long," Helmeppo replied smugly as he left the prison yard.**

**Once Helmeppo had left, Luffy jumped over the wall and walked slowly towards Zoro. Luffy suddenly stopped and winkled his nose like he had smelled something bad in the air. He was standing down-wind from Zoro, so he was hit by how smelly Zoro was.**

**"Man, even back in Gray Terminal it was never this smelly," Luffy complained to himself.**

They missed the rest of Luffy's complaint when they felt the force of Conqueror's Haki washing over them. Carue fell over from the mental pressure. Shirahoshi and Vivi shivered in fear.

Despite the place being unable to interact with them, the sunlight somehow managed to make the small amount of steel glint from where Shanks unsheathed his sword. He didn't draw it fully though, just barely an inch. Shanks let go of his Conquerer's Haki and smiled amiably. "Oh, relax. I don't want to fight with you all. I just want you all to understand before you get any ideas about finding Luffy's home, you're going to have to go through the Red Force."

Shanks was given a nasty grin from Luffy's biological father. "Why, to think you'd declare protection that far."

"It's not for you and not for Garp either, I assure you. Revolutionary," Shanks said. Their little chat was cut short from a shout coming from Luffy's first mate.

**"Mind your own business, or I'll fight you!" Zoro shouted. One thousand and five hundred fights. All losses! He did not go through that to end up tied by an asshole who was being** _**even more of an asshole** _ **by stomping on the first food Zoro had the privilege to smell after three weeks and some kid mocking him.**

**"I'd beat you, but I'd infect my hands. Shishishishi," Luffy giggled. "You've been sitting in your own shit for almost a month! Man, do you smell! You're tied up and publicly humiliated!"**

"How did Zoro agree to be the first mate when Luffy's acting like that to him?" Sabo wondered.

**"If it was me, I'd have escaped already!" Luffy continued.**

**"I'm different from you," Zoro smirked. "I will survive and show them."**

**Luffy wasn't impressed. "What a stubborn guy," he mused before he turned to leave.**

"Like _you're_ not stubborn?" Law vaguely realised the Big Mom pirate said the same thing too. And Crocodile. As well as Marco.

**"Wait a sec!" Zoro suddenly called, stopping Luffy. The rubber boy turned around to face Zoro, who was looking down at the ruined rice ball. "Can you get that?"**

**Luffy walked over and picked up the rice ball's remains. It looked like a tinier version of that one time Dadan accidentally sat on their food but because it was winter and the weather was too harsh for him and his brothers to find prey they had to settle eating the giant mush. "Are you really going to eat this? It's more like a mudball."**

**"Shut your trap and give it to me!" Zoro shouted impatiently. His eyes were wide with desperation.**

**Luffy gave into the swordsman's demands and threw the rice ball into his mouth. Zoro greedily ate it, even with the rocks. He briefly choked on the remains of the food.**

**"Told you," Luffy said.**

**"It was delicious," Zoro whispered, surprising Luffy. "Thanks for the food."**

**Luffy tilted his head, and a gentle smile adorned his face.**

"Oh, if only Sanji-voy could have seen this," Ivankov theatrically wiped a tear from his large eye.

Sabo found it funny that Zoro was so unimpressive to his baby brother until he showed his kindness. Luffy has such a simple requirement for his small crew of 10 people.

The scene blurred again. The executioner's stand morphed into a counter bar, and they soon realised they were all in a restaurant.

"Gah!" Some of them yelled out in surprise when they looked up only to see, instead of a ceiling, but the giant mermaid's face was poking out of it. She giggled.

Some had burst in laughter when they saw Big Mom's third child's upper body disappearing into the ceiling. Katakuri could see nothing but Shirahoshi's ear and pink hair in the dark, uncared attic. The mochi man recalled his little experimentation the first time this happened and easily fitted his whole body inside the restaurant by crossing his legs to sit down.

**Luffy was sitting on a barrel next to Coby. In front of them was the little girl from the prison yard, and behind her was a woman who could only be her mother.**

**"Even though you're a pirate, please help yourself, Luffy-kun," the girl's mother spoke, "The least I can do is to give you some meal after you saved my Rika. Rika, I** _**told you** _ **to stop sneaking into the execution site!"**

**"Yeah, I was so scared to death, but onii-chan saved me!"**

**"Yeah, I should have hit him on second thought."**

**"Ne ne, onii-chan! How long have you been a pirate?" Rika gushed.**

**"Since this morning!" Luffy grinned.**

**"WOW!" Rika's eyes sparkled.**

**"Wow," Coby gaped.**

They were amused. They were so used to _their_ Luffy having a long-standing reputation of making everything run amok that they didn't process just how _new_ this Luffy is.

**"Heard what you said to Zoro. Why'd you owe him?"**

**"Zoro helped me! Lieutenant Morgan's son used to let his wild wolf wander around the town and attack everyone. I...I was trying to make it go away when it was attacking our customers, but it got really mad!" Rika sniffed. Rika's mother placed her hands onto her daughter to comfort her. Rika continued, "Zoro killed it. But Helmeppo got mad, and Zoro made him promise to let my family go if he gets catched—"**

**"Caught," Rika's mom corrected.**

**"—caught and survive a month without food. It's been twenty-one days! I counted!"**

**Luffy whistled. "3 minutes without air. 3 days without water. 3 weeks without food. I came on time! If I didn't give your rice ball to him, he'd probably be dead by nightfall!"**

Hancock looked perturbed.

"What does he mean with those numbers?" Carrot asked.

"Survival's Rule of Three," Sabo answered. "Crazy Old Man beat that into our heads." He glared at Garp who was grinning at seeing Luffy demonstrating what he learned from his Grandpa.

**"He ate my rice ball?"**

**"Yeah. He said it was delicious."**

**Rika's squealed in delight.**

' _Despite Luffy's first mate's hard exterior, he's such a marshmallow,_ ' Sabo looked at Rika's enthusiasm fondly, ' _Kind of like Ace._ '

**Coby kept his upset look since hearing Rika's story, "I thought... Marines are supposed to protect! Not use their power to bully people. That's what pirates..." He turned to Luffy who continued to eat his meal and gestured wildly, but Luffy caught that Coby wanted to convey he was excluding Luffy, "What pirates do."**

Smoker puffed out smoke, "You know better now."

"I know better now," Coby repeated to himself, then send a friendly smile at White Chase.

**Then the door was slammed open, and Helmeppo entered the restaurant. "Hey, woman, I'm hungry! Feed my men and me for free!"**

"Piece of shit," Rebecca grumbled.

"Even Luffy was never that rude when he's hungry!" Vivi exclaimed.

**Helmeppo claimed a table after snatching a bottle of wine and a clean glass. "Since I'm tired of waiting, I've decided to execute Zoro tomorrow. Look forward to it everyone," he laughed.**

**He got decked hard by Luffy's fist. The arrogant marine was sent flying across the restaurant in a clear path and slammed into a nearby wall. Either Luffy predicted the path or Helmeppo was just unlucky to slam into the concrete wall instead of the wooden one.**

**"FUCK! WHO the hell are you!?" Helmeppo demanded, grabbing his swollen cheek. Coby wondered how his jaw wasn't broken. Luffy didn't – he didn't even use half of his full strength.**

**"You're demanding food from the lady whose kid you just threatened to kill?" Luffy snorted.**

**That's when Helmeppo noticed Rika clutching at a steel tray like a shield. "She was helping the prisoner!"**

**"A-All we saw was they're talking. Roronoa Zoro didn't let her help at all!" Coby defended.**

**"You can't prove that you stupid pinky!"**

**"He's not freed...?" Luffy questioned.**

**Helmeppo went red. "Just wait! I'll get my daddy to kill you!"**

**Luffy sucked his lips at how pathetic he was acting. "Why can't you just do it on your own?"**

**His tone was so condescending Coby could guess Luffy's intention to punch Helmeppo again. "Luffy, please calm down! You shouldn't make the marines your enemy."**

**"You're right Coby! He's not worth it," Luffy smiled. He completely ignored Coby's second sentence. "Zoro will join my crew!"**

The friends of the Straw Hat Captain shared Coby's frustration. It was like after Luffy decided they were friends, nothing they said _mattered_. Oh, they certainly mean A LOT to Luffy, but he was very mercurial about listening to their concerns.

**Turning around, Luffy ran out of the restaurant. The scene blurred but Luffy stayed running until he stopped short, and everything morphed back to the prison yard. No Coby or Rika or Helmeppo, but Zoro still tied on the cross.**

**"Yo," Luffy greeted completely unconcerned.**

**Zoro still glaring at Luffy. "What do you want, kid?"**

**"I'm going to untie your ropes, and then you will become my crewmate," Luffy stated bluntly.**

"He didn't even ask," Dragon grinned.

**Zoro snorted at him. "What did you say?"**

**"I'm looking for people to join my pirate crew," Luffy said as he moved closer to the swordsman.**

**"I refuse," Zoro said coldly, stopping Luffy. "You want me to become a bad guy? I'm not going to become some lowlife pirate." He turned his head away from Luffy.**

**"What's wrong with being a pirate?"**

**"I don't follow anyone. I'm my own man, not some sea scum."**

**"Everyone thinks you're an evil demon anyway."**

**"I don't care what society thinks of me," Zoro narrowed his eyes. "I've never regretted doing anything in my life. I will survive and do what I want."**

**"Hmmm," Luffy folded his arms. "But I've already decided that you'll be my crewmate."**

**"Don't decide that for yourself!" Zoro yelled, completely losing his previous cool.**

"Luffy-senpai won't take no," Bartolomeo nodded.

Sabo chuckled. "Everyone loses their cool around him."

**"You use katana, right?" Luffy suddenly asked.**

**Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but that stupid marine son took my treasure," Zoro said as he slumped further onto the pole. He sounded close to whining.**

**Luffy smiled at the admission. "Your treasure, huh? I'll get them. If you want them back, you have to join my crew."**

**"That's dirty! Are you blackmailing me?!"**

**Luffy laughed and promptly ran towards the marine base.**

Dragon turned to face his father. "Your fault," he declared succinctly.

Garp should really retort that as an upstanding marine, but he was too busy showing everyone how proud he was. His grandson was paying attention when he introduced Luffy to that mountain bandit!

**A noise got Luffy's attention. "Wonder what's that? It's coming from the roof," Luffy wondered out loud. He smiled and pulled his arm back. Stretching his arm until he grabbed the roof's edge, he rocketed himself up. Unfortunately, he shot himself too high. Not wanting to fall – though he looked more like he wanted to keep 'flying', Luffy grabbed a nearby rope. Unfortunately, again, the rope was tied to a statue that was being hoisted up.**

**There was a big guy backhanding the blond Luffy had decked earlier. "Why do I have to clean up your mess? You can do whatever you want in my name, but I punish those who oppose me!" He growled. "Have you executed her?!"**

**"Her? The girl? S-she's a just a little girl."**

**The guy ignored the blond and barked at another marine on the roof. "You! Go to town and kill her! I don't care how old she is. Whoever disobeys me must die!"**

_What a deluded jerk!_

**"But... but she's just a..." the marine stammered.**

**"** _**Ensign** _ **Pedro," the guy said menacingly. "You're lower than the rank of lieutenant,** _**so you do what I fucking say** _ **."**

**Luffy chose that time to land, and he caused the statue to fall over and break in half as it hit the edge of the roof. The remains of the upper half toppled off the roof and crashed onto the ground.**

**"Hmm?" Luffy stood calmly amongst them.**

**All the marines on the roof were left speechless as they stared at the ruined statue. There was complete silence.**

That got most of them having a good laugh. "At this rate, he's going to break everything as a first impression," Law smirked.

**Judging their expressions, Luffy concluded it was a statue of an important person. He scanned around to see the most important looking person there and nonchalantly said he was sorry to the marine who looked the most upset, whose jaw dropped the lowest and snot was falling out of his nostrils and his tear ducts leaked.**

**The man was tall and sported a giant axe in place of a right hand, metal instead of a jaw made of skin and bones. He wore dark blue jeans with black tiger stripes, and his eyes showed a look of indignant rage. "Capture him! I'll kill him myself!"**

Rebecca showed her distaste. "Like father like son. Why couldn't he just capture Lucy himself?"

"Not that he would even be able to," Hancock interjected.

**Helmeppo was also there, and he immediately recognised Luffy. "Father, that's the guy who punched me!"**

"Oh, now he calls him 'father', No 'daddy'?" Rebecca crossed her arms.

**Luffy recognised Helmeppo too. "Hey, it's you!" Helmeppo screamed and tried to run away from Luffy, but the rubber man clutched him tightly by the shoulder. "I was looking for you," Luffy said cheerfully. "Come with me!"**

**Luffy ran into the marine base while Helmeppo could only cry in horror. The blond was dragged across the floor of the base as the marines chased after him and Luffy. The straw-hatted boy lugged Lieutenant Morgan's son through the base for several minutes trying to find Zoro's swords. It might have been merely something of extreme discomfort. Unfortunately, Luffy was hauling him by his neck collar.**

**So, yeah, Helmeppo got a valid reason to scream. Luffy doesn't seem like someone who cares if he survived their tumbles through stairs and windows.**

They had been following Luffy from the prison yard to the marine base, but Luffy was running around the place and other than the animals which were the desert princess' pets, none of them felt like following Luffy's path. Instead, whenever Luffy ran upstairs or jump through a window to break into a locked room by trashing their window, they simply utilised their intangibility by jumping and passing through floors and walls. In Shirahoshi's case, she had to be careful when poking her face into building less one of them jumped and poked her in the eye. It wasn't a difficult task though, Luffy was easy to find—just figure out where the most chaotic noise is coming from.

**"Hey, where's Zoro's sword?" Luffy asked.**

**"I'll tell you. I'll tell you, just stop dragging me!" Helmeppo yelled for mercy.**

**Luffy stopped not for Helmeppo, but so the blond could answer Luffy. The blond looked dreadful as he lay limply in Luffy's hand. "Kay, talk," Luffy said.**

**Helmeppo weakly pointed behind Luffy. "It's in my room. You just passed it."**

**Luffy whined, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"**

**"Don't move!" Several marines shouted at Luffy as they pointed their rifles at him. "Release Lord Helmeppo!"**

**"Nah," Luffy said. A second later, he lifted Helmeppo up and held him in front of him like a human meat shield. "But you can shoot if you want."**

They burst into laughter.

"Bullets don't work on you Luffy!" Vivi clutched her cheeks because they always started to hurt whenever she laughed a little too hard. "You're just a jerk."

**Helmeppo immediately panicked. "NO! Don't shoot!"**

**Luffy didn't waste the marines' hesitation and ran past them while still using Helmeppo as a shield. Arriving at Helmeppo's door, Luffy opened it.**

"Ehhh," some of them grimaced at how Helmeppo decorated his room. There was nothing wrong with a feminine room, but for a blond jerk trying to act like a man, pink and flowery walls are just stupid.

**Luffy took a double-take on the elaborate makeup dresser. "I thought those are for girls."**

"I _knew_ he wore eyeliner," Vivi whispered.

**"Weren't you looking for the swords?! It's there! Now let me go!"**

**Luffy perked up but didn't let go of Helmeppo. "Hey, there's three." He tugged Helmeppo up again, "Which one's Zoro's?"**

**Either Helmeppo was just a wimp, or Luffy had been abusing pressure on his neck too much, but Helmeppo fainted before he could answer.**

"Garp, I don't believe I've ever congratulated you on how fine you trained that wimp," Sengoku grunted.

**Soon after that sounds came through Helmeppo's window. Luffy let the blond's collar go, and the blond fell flat onto the floor face first. Luffy looked out of the window to see Zoro and Coby against Lieutenant Morgan and a firing squad.**

**"Welp! Better crash!" Luffy grabbed all three swords and tied them to his back with a nearby piece of cloth. After securing them, Luffy's hands gripped the sides, and he pulled himself back. His fingers let go of their hold, and the rubber man went flying through the window.**

"He didn't even bother opening it," Law deadpanned at the loud crash.

Sabo admired the chaos and saluted Luffy's perfect aim as the boy who had witnessed Luffy's terrible aim for months when they were kids.

**Luffy landed directly in front of Zoro and Coby, exactly in time just as several bullets were fired. The sound made Coby, who had shut his eyes instinctively when he was facing a bunch of gun barrels, open his eyes to see bullets impacting his friend's body. He, along with Zoro, cried out in alarm and cried out again in shock when the bullets continued their path. But instead of continuing it after making holes through flesh and blood, it was like Luffy's skin encased them, stretching along with their force.**

**Luffy laughed, "Won't work~."**

**All the bullets deflected back at the marines.**

**Everyone freaked out. Coby and Zoro continued to freak out, and the marines would have stopped freaking out with the reason being they met their deaths had the bullets not miraculously missed all of them, hitting the pavement and buildings behind them instead.**

**Luffy looked at Coby behind his shoulder. "Said ya I was strong!"**

**"Wh...what** _**are** _ **you!?" Zoro demanded as the shock started to wear out.**

"He looks so shocked." Not an emotion they had seen on Zoro's often... if ever, actually.

Shanks heard Vivi's question and answered her, "They're from East Blue. Devil Fruit users are very rare in the Four Blues, especially that one."

Yasopp put in his own two cents. "The time we spent there, most of East Blue people even thought Devil Fruit is a myth."

"Actually, most people in the Four Blues do," Law added.

"But, don't they read the newspapers? Most famous marines and pirates have devil fruits!"

"Yes, but for people whose lives are for the most part very peaceful and untouched by pirates every other day of the week, devil fruit abilities sounded like catchy nicknames newspeople tagged on them for sensationalism," Smoker gave his explanation on the matter.

Coby nodded, a tad bit upset. "And the few times they discovered a Devil Fruit user, most of the time they'd be thought of as monsters, because they don't understand."

**Luffy turned towards Zoro, grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "I'm Luffy, and I'm going to be the Pirate King!"**

**"W-what? Become the Pirate King!? Do you know what you're saying!?"**

Becoming the Pirate King is the most ridiculous dream to shout about. Becoming the Pirate King means following the footsteps of Gold Roger, the most notorious pirate of the world (a very big pair of shoes to fill). Becoming the Pirate King means taking on all the other strong pirates in the entire world – that's who you are making an enemy of when you declare you're going to be King of the Pirates.

**"Pirate King is Pirate King. What else would it mean?" Luffy asked with a smile that was a little too cheerful, and it showed a patronizing light. "By the way, I found your sword!" Luffy held out all three swords, expecting Zoro to grab one despite the green-haired man still being tied up at the cross. "Which one is it? I couldn't tell, so I grabbed all three of them."**

**"Good, because I use all three," Zoro tugged at his restraints. "I use a three-sword style."**

**Luffy blinked at him for several seconds, wondering where Zoro put the third sword when fighting. "Kay, take 'em," Luffy looked delighted. "But if you fight with me, you owe me. Being killed by the marines or coming with me... Which one will you chose?" he practically sang the last part.**

Luffy blackmailing the pirate hunter into becoming a pirate caused them to snicker.

**"You son of a devil," Zoro grinned. "Fine, I would rather be a pirate than die here."**

**"Great, my first crewmate!" Luffy cheered, completely forgetting the danger they were still in. He danced happily. "Alright, this is perfect!"**

**"I get it, now set me free!" Zoro yelled in irritation.**

**While Luffy was blackmailing Zoro and celebrated his success by silly dancing, the marines had recovered from the shock of Luffy's ability. "If guns don't work, then cut them to pieces!" Morgan ordered his men.**

**Within moments, all the marines in the prison yard charged the small group. Zoro gritted his teeth at how nonchalant and** _**lazy** _ **his new captain was with the task of untying the ropes. Luffy could have used his swords to cut Zoro free, but the guy just held them under one arm and tried to untie the knots with only one hand!**

**"I can't untie this knot," Luffy muttered. "And your smell is offending my nostrils. Stupid marine knots."**

**"Stop screwing around!" Zoro yelled as he tried to pull himself free.**

_He's insane from the start!_ They all thought, marvelling at how at ease Luffy was despite the marines getting closer.

**"Hmm, that's funny. The knot is getting tighter," Luffy muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.**

**"Just give me my damn sword!" Zoro yelled in frustration.**

**"Kay~" As soon as Zoro ceased hold of his swords, he moved so quickly Coby didn't catch how the starved pirate hunter freed himself from his restraints and caught all twenty marines in mid-swing.**

**"Whoa, cool!" Luffy exclaimed from the display of strength and speed.**

**"You make one move, and you're dead," Zoro said fiercely. This caused the marines to completely freeze in fear, so Zoro turned to address Luffy. "I promise to be a pirate. Opposing the marines now makes me a wanted man." He narrowed his eyes as he glared at his new captain. "However, I'll tell you one thing. I will always follow my own ambitions!"**

**This piqued Luffy's interest. "Ambitions?"**

**"To become the world's greatest swordsman," Zoro proclaimed. "If you ever do anything that causes me to lose my ambitions, you will apologise to me at the end of a sword."**

Yasopp barked in laughter. "The first mate just told his captain to commit seppuku!"

"Well the captain did blackmail him," Shanks slapped his sniper's back at how amusing Luffy's first recruitment is going. He was vaguely aware of Rebecca, who was explaining to Carrot and Vivi what seppuku means.

**Luffy smiled as if he wasn't being threatened. "Greatest swordsman, huh? Awesome. As the future Pirate King, I'd be embarrassed for you if you couldn't do that much."**

**Zoro returned Luffy's smile. "Heh, indeed. It doesn't matter if I'm known as a saint or a demon. I will make my name known to the heavens!"**

**"What are you doing!?" Morgan yelled at his men. "Execute them now!"**

**The marines were still too afraid of Zoro to move.**

**"Zoro," Luffy called. "Duck," he said as he swung his leg. The appendage stretched, and like a whip, they took out all twenty marines that Zoro was holding back. Coby jumped in high spirits and cheered for Luffy.**

**"What are you?" Zoro asked again.**

**"I ate the Gum Gum Fruit," Luffy smiled.**

Dragon smirked. The thought running through his head was shared by the oldest members amongst them watching this. For the longest time, the Gum Gum Fruit was famous for being lame. Their owners always lose control of their limbs. One even couldn't stop falling over because of the rubber joints in his knees. Luffy was a perfect example of how a Devil Fruit is only as powerful as the user.

**This baffled Zoro even more. "What's a Gum Gum Fruit?"**

**"A rubber man!?" one of the marines exclaimed in shock.**

**"So, he did eat a Devil Fruit," Morgan growled.**

**"Captain, we're no match for a monster," one of the marines said fearfully.**

**"And Roronoa Zoro's by his side!" another marine added.**

"He's _half-dead_ ," Sengoku growled. "The marine force in East Blue needs a serious shape-up."

"And he's clearly still stronger than all of them," Garp acknowledged. "Give them credit for knowing to back down."

**Morgan, however, refused to back down. Instead of channelling the frustration to fuel his attacks, he turned his anger to his men. "To all those marines who just complained, take your guns and shoot yourselves in the head. I have no need for such weaklings."**

Garp's body moved before he could think, but his fist only passed through Morgan's head. "Bastard."

**The marines looked at their captain like he had lost his mind. At the same time, it looked like they were ready to comply with the command.**

"What utter crap," Katakuri stated.

"What's wrong with him?!" Vivi shouted.

"What's wrong with _his marines_?" Despite the question mark, Rebecca was giving a statement.

"Marines would even take their own lives just because their superior said so?" Hancock said dryly. "Pirates certainly don't. We have free will."

Sengoku looked tired at that last jab.

"Lucy, please punch him."

**Luffy crossed the short distance in an instant and punched Morgan in the face. Blocking the blow with the broad side of his axe, Morgan wasn't thrown across the field, but Luffy's strength still managed to shook him badly.**

**Zoro took his sword out of his mouth. He wanted to see what his new captain could do.**

**"A mere civilian with no rank is no match for me!" Morgan proclaimed as he threw his jacket off. "I am the captain of the marines, Ax-Hand Morgan!"**

**"I'm Luffy," the straw-hatted boy greeted casually, "Nice to meet ya!"**

**"Die!" Morgan yelled as he attempted to cut Luffy in half.**

**Luffy easily dodged the attack, and the ground cracked from the impact of the axe. Morgan was strong, but he was far too slow to keep up with Luffy.**

"For starters, I'd have expected Mugiwara-ya to have a bit of a hard time," Law said, "but this is just a one-sided battle. He seems too strong for East Blue standards before he even began his piracy."

"Um," Carrot jumped to close the distance between her and the Red Emperor. She lightly tugged at his sleeve. "It must be because of his home life. What's Gray Terminal like?" She asked quietly, so only Yasopp and Hancock, who were nearby heard her. Carrot did so to avoid Shanks releasing another wave of Haki.

Shanks shook his head. "I don't know what life at Gray Terminal is like, just that it's the place Luffy and Ace lived in when they were kids. Ah, and Sabo. Yo, Sabo!"

"Yes?"

"What's life at Gray Terminal like?" Shanks repeated Carrot's question, loud enough for everyone to hear. Just to let them know that he wasn't going to be releasing his Conqueror's Haki if they're curious about Luffy's homeland.

A smile full of mirth adorned his scarred face. "I'd happily say it's just wildlife, but it's honestly where people live like animals and die like insects," Sabo shrugged at them. Gray Terminal was slightly better than Edge Town, which was a place where one lived in a cramped hundred-square-foot shack if they're lucky. "No running water, no sanitation, deadly daily squabbles over a bucket of water... We're pretty intimate with the Rule of Three."

The revelation distracted them from Luffy's one-sided fight with Morgan. "Lucy lived like that? But..." Rebecca's eyes trailed at Dragon. Most of them did so too. Dragon himself didn't look put off by their unintentional blaming, but he did turn to Garp looking somewhat upset, but also understanding.

Garp, who used to have to look down on Sabo, turned to his tall blond grandson with a questioning look. Sabo gave him a shrug and a smile, confirming to Garp that, yeah, there's no hard feelings.

They turned back to watch Luffy's fight when a yell of delight caught their attention.

**Luffy growled nastily once he finally pinned Morgan down. "You ruined Coby's dream!"**

**Coby's impossible friend proceeded to punch Morgan repeatedly in the face.**

**"STOP!" Someone yelled, but Luffy didn't pay them any attention. He continued to punch Morgan when the voice yelled again, "I said, stop! Don't you listen?! Can't you see I have a hostage?!"**

**Finally glancing up – though not before delivering one last punch – Luffy saw Helmeppo holding a gun to Coby's head.**

Some were amused. Some were torn between being amused and being worried. Because Helmeppo was shaking badly and barely held his gun correctly.

**"If you care for his life, don't move!" Helmeppo ordered.**

**Luffy stared blankly at Helmeppo.**

**Coby was frightened and was trembling. He glanced at Luffy, who grinned at him. This was all it took for Coby to regain his confidence. "Luffy, I won't interfere with your dream, even if I die! I'M NOT AFRAID OF DEATH!"**

**Coby was rewarded with a grin, "Yeah, I know," Luffy said, and he turned his back on Morgan. Luffy approached Helmeppo and exchanged looks with Zoro, before turning his attention back to Helmeppo. "Give it up, you stupid moron. Coby's serious."**

**Helmeppo was completely panicked now. "DON'T MOVE, STRAW HAT!"**

"Huh, so this guy's the one who came up with Luffy's moniker," Shanks said.

**Luffy kept walking towards Helmeppo. While this was happening, Morgan stood back up and towered over Luffy.**

**"Luffy, behind you!" Coby warned.**

**Helmeppo held the gun closer to Coby's head, Luffy pulled his arm back, Morgan had his axe posed over Luffy's head to cut the teen down in the middle, and Zoro swiftly put his sword in his mouth.**

**Both blonds were taken out by Luffy's pistol-like attack and Zoro's sword charge. Helmeppo was thrown away, while Morgan collapsed on the ground, his axe just inches from Luffy's head when he was stopped.**

**"Nice," Luffy said simply. Seeing Coby perfectly safe, he turned to the green-haired swordsman. "Zoro."**

**Zoro smiled at Luffy. "No problem, captain."**

**Luffy returned the smile, happy to finally have his first crew member. He also liked Zoro's smile and began to happily giggle when the thought of having the happy responsibility of keeping the happy expression on his crewmates' faces crossed his mind.**

Then the strangest thing happened. Everything blinked—reality didn't blur; they just blinked into another reality. They were standing around the prison yard — Shirahoshi was having fun just 'floating' in the concrete and letting only her head poking out of the ground to witness Luffy and the rest and suddenly she was floating in the seawater.

_**The place was the decks of an island. There was a gigantic thing floating on the ocean, and it was probably a ship, but there's a chance it was something else because none of them could make it out because it was just a blur. There were several people on the deck too, but most of them were blurs except for one person.** _

_**Luffy, as expected, except that he was a little tyke, his head drowning in the straw hat that was still too big on him. His eyes were determined, although the red corners told them that he had been crying, and he pointed to one blob, and shouted, "I'll have a first mate that's even stronger than you!"** _

Shanks and Yasopp burst into a giant grin. It was still a blob of a blur, but the two of them knew it _had_ to be Ben Beckman. The rest were still caught off guard and missed the Red Hair Pirates' expressions.

Everything blinked out of existence, and they were back at the prison yard.

**Then Luffy turned to the marines, who had recovered from Luffy's blow but stayed back when they saw him pummeling their captain. "Hey, give me a boat. We're leaving for our pirate journey."**

This caused all of them to snicker, despite the disorientation of what seemed to be some kind of flashback.

"I _wonder_ who my precious grandson was talking to," Garp said to no one, but Shanks could _hear_ his accusation.

**"P-pirate, but you—but we... huh?" The marine looked lost.**

**Zoro sneered. "Do you still intend to arrest us?"**

**They looked at each other before ceremoniously throwing up their guns and swords in cheer.**

**"YES!"**

**"WE'RE FREE!"**

**"Morgan is no more!"**

**"I'M SO HAPPY!"**

**"Why are they so happy about Moger being defeated?" Luffy questioned.**

**"Everyone hated Morgan after all..."**

**At that moment, Zoro passed out and fell onto the ground with a thump.**

**Everything blurred back into Rika's restaurant, and in a second, Zoro went from the half-dead bandana-clad swordsman to the perfectly satisfied green-haired man rubbing his stomach. "I'm so full! Starving to death was not fun!"**

**"You wouldn't last a month in the first place," Luffy, who had mastered the art of talking with food in his mouth, said dryly.**

**Zoro squinted at him. "How come you can eat** _**that** _ **much and still be so scrawny..."**

**Coby laughed weakly and turned to see Rika and her mother, "Sorry, we're eating your food quite a lot."**

**"It's okay! Keep eating. It's the least we can give you after saving our town from Lieutenant Morgan's abuse!"**

**"Oniichan, you're really, really, really strong!"**

**"Yup! I'm strong, and I'll be stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger!"**

Rebecca clapped her hands. Lucy get along so well with kids!

**"So, Captain, what's your next plan?"**

**"To Grand Line."**

**"LIKE NOW?! TO GRAND LINE!" Coby exploded. "Don't you understand all the world's strongest pirates and marines are there! You just became a pirate this morning!"**

**"Hey, he's going to be the Pirate King, he'll have to sail the pirate's graveyard. Besides, why are you worrying? You're a marine."**

**"I'M YOUR FRIEND SO I WORRY!" Then his eyes widened and completely embarrassed, Coby slapped his mouth.**

**"Aww! Why are you embarrassed? Even though we have to part ways, we'll always be friends!"**

**Coby beamed. "You two... I haven't had any friends growing up, and I don't know what to do... but you taught me to live by my dream!" He fisted his hands and shouted, "I'm going to become the best marine. I'll be so strong. I'll defeat you one day, Luffy!"**

**"I'll be so strong you'll** _**never** _ **catch me!" Luffy agreed to that promise.**

**"Before even thinking about that you should think if you'd even** _**be** _ **a marine. If they know of your past as a pirate, even if you were just a chore boy, they won't let you join."**

**"Excuse me!" Rika's restaurant's door opened to reveal the marine Morgan had ordered to kill Rika. Actually, the window revealed even more marines lined up outside along with the town's people. The marine captain cleared his throat. "We are wondering, are you really,** _**truly** _ **, pirates?"**

**"Yes, I just found my first crewmate," Luffy confirmed.**

Sengoku's palm met his forehead.

**"Even though you are pirates, we are grateful you saved out the town from Axe-Hand Morgan... but since you are pirates, as marines we cannot allow you to stay longer. We will have to report to Headquarters, so please leave."**

**The town's people got angry. "Hey! They saved us!"**

**"What kind of bullshit is this?"**

**"Stop fucking with our lives you marines!"**

**"They're this town's saviours!"**

**Luffy just shrugged. "Hmm, well, let's go. Thanks for the food, Rika's mom!"**

**"Oniichan, are you really leaving?!"**

**"Luffy...?" Coby said. Zoro didn't say anything but stood up to follow Luffy. And the two pirates walked past Coby.**

**"Aren't you with them?" The marine captain addressed Coby.**

**"I...I...I'm not with them!"**

Coby couldn't see it as his back was turned, but they all saw Luffy grinning.

**"Hold on," he said loudly, indicating that he was addressing to Luffy and Zoro. "Is he telling the truth?"**

**Luffy pointed to Coby rather rudely. "I know what this guy used to do."**

**Coby didn't know what to say anymore. "Luffy...?"**

**The pirate captain faced them and put his hands on his hips and hummed, "Ehhh I can't remember where.. Oh! He used to be with this really fat female pirate captain. I think her name was Albida—"**

" _How_ does he pronounce some names right and some wrong?" Marco wondered.

**"—and this guy," Luffy has walked closer to Coby and poked him in the head, "Spent two years there—"**

**"SHUT UP!" Coby punched Luffy in the head, missing to witness Luffy's smug smirk.**

**Luffy retaliated by punching him in the cheek, "You're asking for a fight?" Coby tried to punch Luffy again, but Luffy was too fast, and he ended up being Luffy's human punching bag.**

**"Both of you stop it! I won't allow this town to get into any more fights! It's clear he's not with you!"**

**What finally stopped Luffy from beating Coby was Zoro grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, "Hey, you went overboard."**

Coby exhaled in exasperated fondness at Luffy's tough love. "He did it for me," he began to explain, despite no one prompting him. "He wanted to make me hit him."

**"Marine-san!" Coby's beaten form bounced after Luffy and Zoro went out of the way. The pink-haired boy faced the marine captain and bowed. "Please let me join the marines! Even if it's chores, I will still do them!"**

**"He could be a spy for the pirates! We have to check the background of this boy—"**

**"I AM A MAN WHOSE DREAM IS TO BECOME A MARINE!"**

**Coby's outburst stopped the people's and marines' murmurs. He had no skill, no intelligence, nothing to offer them but his determination and he** _**will** _ **go for it, just like Luffy!**

**The marine walked past him as he tightened his cap, "Don't think we don't know of your past as a pirate, boy. But I will still allow you to join!"**

**Coby's happiness skyrocketed. "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"**

**The scene blurred to the docks. The town's people were leading Luffy and Zoro to a modest-sized ship loaded with food, very grateful to their heroes.**

**"Nice act back there," Zoro said.**

**"Now Coby's past as a pirate won't matter anymore."**

**"You hope so. The kid seems like he's a hair's breadth from calling you his friend."**

**"LUFFY!" They all turned to see Coby, who had pushed past the people, panting harshly. The boy caught his breath and stood straight for a salute. "Thank you very much! I will never forget you for the rest of my life!"**

**Zoro smirked, "Told you."**

**Luffy giggled. "Coby! We'll meet again someday!"**

**"GROUP SALUTE!"**

**Coby was startled but didn't break his pose. Apparently, all the marines followed him, and they all copied Coby's example.**

**Luffy waved even more enthusiastically.**

Everybody's jaws just had to drop, completely shocked. _Marines saluting pirates!_

**"Marine!" It took him a second for Coby to realise that** _**he** _ **was the one being addressed. "You have great friends!"**

**The bespectacled boy burst into tears. "Yes, sir!"**

**"Marines! We just saluted pirates, and thus we have violated the marine's code! The punishment will be no food for a week!"**

**"YES, SIR!"**

**"Yahooo!" Luffy yelled in glee. "Grand Line, here we come!"**

Laughter and cheerful clapping were shared along with incredulous looks.

"They just met, and they're already acting like their old crewmates," Bartolomeo put his hand under his chin and nodded vigorously to himself. He founded Barto Club after Marineford, so he was very happy to have the honour of seeing Luffy-senpai's earlier voyage in the sea. He bet the next one Luffy-senpai recruited is Nami-senpai!

"Luffy was so cute!" Hancock blushed.

"I know, right?!" Sabo's smile stretched his cheeks. And as if all boundaries had collapsed, all the girls gushed together with the big brother. Bartolomeo and Garp somehow wiggled into the fest too.

Sengoku didn't know if he should facepalm at that kind of controversial solidarity or dryly congratulate Garp's grandson.

"The longer I watch Straw Hat, the more he's infecting my brain," Smoker grunted.

"I can't believe this," Crocodile said, "Just _how_?"

"I met him since he was a kid and I can't figure it out either!" Shanks laughed along with Yasopp.

Law smirked, "Just agree he's mentally insane and moves on."

Aokiji, and Katakuri, could only nod on that.

Ivankov turned to his leader. "Time?"

Dragon lifted his arm, and his sleeve got pulled back a bit, showing his wristwatch. He answered Ivankov and turned back to smile at his son, mirroring Coby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Waking to Another Sky](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9577922/chapters/21656828) written by Vathara. A Sword Art Online story that is WAY TOO EPIC I LOVE KIRITO SO MUCH. Its "watch the characters" spin is what inspired me to write this!
> 
> [Other People's Choices](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8835628/chapters/20258512) written by Lomonaaeren (pronounced low-moan-ah-AYER-en). It's a Harry Potter story and I love it so much because the writing style gives me goosebumps with their subtle surprises at every corner and Harry's portrayed so cool!
> 
> [Symbiosis](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7917071/1/Symbiosis) written by ConstructiveWriter. A Pokemon story you really want to read if you love that wonderful world portrayed in a realistic light. They're insanely grotesque in that subtle horrific angle I really adore.


	3. Admonishing the Pirate-Hating Thief (Nami's Arc)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a recent anime Number24 whose lead character is an actual BAMF. Not one of the normal roster of leads with some mystery/ability that surprises the audience 1-2 times in 3 episodes out of 12, but Natsusa here is literally described in My Anime List as a sarcastic and sadistic boy. Like fuuuuuck, the fandom's so tiny, I'mma contribute by linking this [compilation video of Natsusa's best moments](https://youtu.be/FkNux7_rNEw)
> 
> Ask me anything decent on [tumblr](https://tasaccitd03.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
> I had wanted to include everyone precious to the Straw Hats, which meant figuring out how Koshiro, Zeff, Nojiko, Kureha and Laboon got to Raftel. But I also really wanted to include Hancock and Crocodile, so after counselling a fellow writer I'm close to online, I decided to put a cap on 22 people: Law, Sabo, Shanks, Garp, Shirahoshi, Crocodile, Hancock, Katakuri, Rebecca, Coby, Carrot, Dragon, Smoker, Sengoku, Vivi, Dugong, Ivankov, Carue, Aokiji, Marco, Bartolomeo, Yasopp.
> 
> I got stuck in the middle due to the fight scenes. I realized in the middle when I think of epic moments in my favourite anime, One Piece got kind of… way off. I mean, in Naruto, what I thought epic moments there would be Naruto vs Pain, Naruto vs Gaara, Naruto vs Orochimaru (dammit, why can't it have been Naruto vs Sasori in the Gaara Retrieval Arc, I really love Sasori) and especially that Naruto vs Sasuke in Shippuden when they were water "sparring" and Sasuke manipulated Naruto's hand for both of them to make a single hand sign. In Kuroko no Basuke and Haikyuu, Kuroko revealing new tricks and Hinata and Kageyama doing freak quicks. In Code Geass, Lelouch winning mass-scale battles by destroying the entire field itself and Lelouch working together up with Suzaku working together to disable Fleija. In 07-Ghost, all Teito vs Ayanami. But in One Piece? I love the fight scenes – watching the way Luffy uses his flexibility and instincts to deal with multiple enemies going at him is awesome, especially Luffy vs Katakuri (so far. Things EXPLODE in Whole Cake Island Arc. Ah, Oda-san! One Piece is amazing, even if you say you've become a great but a stupidly slow one. ONE PIECE IS STILL 70%), but the top epic moments that comes to mind in this anime is Luffy freeing Ace in Marineford, Luffy screaming at Robin in Enies Lobby, Luffy coming into New World's dangerous, dangerous ocean with a whole family of whales! So I watched several of their episodes, and I noticed, in all those other anime, the grand shaking battles could take most of the entire episode or even more than one volume; in One Piece, even though the fights are damned important too, rarely do they take more than 10 minutes. Personally, I think that it's because, in most shounen battle anime, the fights are there for the character to grow stronger, but in One Piece, the fights are just a part of the journey, they add an element of awesomeness into the story, but it's the journey us one piece fans are looking forward too.
> 
> Note, that the rant above is not me saying One Piece is better than Naruto (but it's definitely better than Bleach, tch, dead people get sent to Soul Society where the hell is Ichigo's mother or his grandparents or their many, many, many dead families. The lore's very limited to Gotei and Rukongai's kind of got shoved off like the civilians in Naruto except that Bleach can't use Naruto's perfect excuse being ninja life is too ridden with a paranoia that civilians living a comfortable life would rarely understand or take no offence if someone suspects friends to be traitors or if their hands keep straying to their weapons), but that One Piece differs greatly in this aspect. I could point out Luffy's goal being different from Naruto's in which to be the Hokage Naruto has to be strong and wise and whatever it is a leader must have but to be the Pirate King means the pirate crew must be amazing, so One Piece is more character story-driven than Naruto's personal story of overcoming obstacles and even though if you squint they can be the exact same thing. One Piece places more emphasis in the fun adventure while Naruto and Boruto place more emphasis in 'becoming stronger'; and even then, this is still not me saying One Piece is better than Naruto because they're both handling shounen elements differently. Besides, I know friendship is kinda a big element in Naruto, but I am DISAPPOINTED in the series the moment Naruto accepted Jiraiya's offer to train him OUTSIDE of Konoha despite telling Sasuke that he can be strong INSIDE the village. BAMF!Dai-Nana-Han happens way too late.

The sixth sense he developed from years of fighting helped Garp to know that someone meant to trip him. A foot shot out in front of his leg, but instead of what they must be expecting, Garp stopped short from running forward to approach where his grandson was, and his blond grandson stumbled in surprise.

"What was that for, brat?"

Garp received a petulant 'tch', the kind they make when they're embarrassed and being obstinate. "Don't think I already forgot about Lu driving himself into a whirlpool, crazy old man."

"And you're blaming me?" Garp questioned.

"I went through SOME of your _training_ ," Sabo deadpanned.

** In the boat they acquired from Shells Town, Zoro was leaning on the ship's mast, one arm securing his swords. Luffy was surrounded by numerous papers which, much like his own body, were tainted by paint. Upon inspection, they were the boy's attempts to draw his Jolly Roger. Along the bowsprit and shrouds, plump, small black-capped white birds with panda-like eyes fluttered around, pecking off the bread crumbs either Luffy or Zoro had thrown towards them. Most likely, it was Zoro. **

** Luffy examined the papers again before dumping it to his side. He blew a raspberry to show his annoyance. "I still can't make the one I want." **

** "Your imagination's too big," Zoro commented, "Jolly Rogers is supposed to be intimidating. Your drawings are..." **

They were floating on the ocean surrounding the two, and not all of them felt the need to huddle closer just to see Luffy's messy attempt to design his pirate flag – especially the marines. The ones standing near them: Bartolomeo, Hancock, Garp, and Sabo, and the ones who are tall enough to glance at the paintings over everyone's heads: Shirahoshi, Katakuri, Ivankov and Marco, could see that Luffy's drawings were all very bright. Some were truly amazing, but they just don't scream a pirate flag. Some were very poorly drawn to the point they may have been scary enough to be a pirate flag.

** Luffy leaned on the boat's side, suddenly extremely bored. After a short while, he looked like someone who had just given up on trying to pick out shapes from the clouds. He didn't seem to mind Zoro staring at him. **

** Zoro was evaluating him, really. Particularly his skin. You could tell from someone's skin whether they have spent their life fighting or if they have never done any weight lifting beyond heavy groceries. Luffy's skin was a disaster and showed the world he was used to taking punches. His muscles were solid too. Not the kind Zoro has – the ones you get from dedicated and repetitive training, but the kind of muscles one acquires by endless fists given and fists received. He wondered about the scar. It was too neat to be accidental, and Zoro figured he had been abused at some point, except that Luffy lacks all behavioural indicators that clue people on the idea that this kid had been abused. **

** "I'm hungry..." Luffy moaned. **

Law looked at the empty paper bags strewn around them and predicted Luffy had eaten his fill not long ago.

** Zoro yawned in reply. "Eat the birds then." **

** The birds crowed angrily and flew away from them. **

** "They're way too tiny." **

** "When are we going to reach land?" **

** "We go where the wind takes us," Luffy answered, ignoring Zoro who choked up on his own saliva. "I'm sure we'll find land... someday." **

"What the hell—" Marco choked. " _Yikes_."

"Between Zoro who has no sense of direction and Lu who doesn't give a thought about planning," Sabo said, "It's like a story of the blind mice."

"He doesn't prepare at all?" Aokiji wondered.

"Luffy? Planning?" Vivi snickered.

"Oh, I wouldn't know," Carrot perked up. "Law managed that impossible feat."

** "How stupid are you?" Zoro asked. Said. Asked? **

** This is what Sabo said is called rhetoric. It has a question mark at the end, but you are not meant to answer because the person who is asking it already knows the answer. **

** "That's a rhetorical question!" **

** "For a man who wants to be the Pirate King, it's strange that you don't even have any navigational skills." **

** "For a man who hunts pirates, I thought you'd know the way around." **

** "I never called myself a pirate hunter," Zoro said. "I went out to sea looking for a man. But the roads changed, and I got lost, so I had to rely on turning in bounties to survive." **

** "Oh, so you're just lost," Luffy said, his voice calm and controlled, but the undertone made Zoro's skin itch. **

** "What? No! No, I'm not lost. This—This is—" Zoro scowled. "I don't have a good answer." **

"Pfft," Shanks snickered.

** "You're so dumb." **

** "Don't say that!" The green-haired man yelled furiously. "You're the who's lost! Geez, a pirate who doesn't know how to navigate and you want to sail through Grand Line? You should hurry and find a crewmate who knows how to navigate!" **

** "And someone who can sing! And another who can cook! And—" **

** "Idiot! Wha—" **

** Leaping off the paddles' handles, Luffy jumped on him, "Shhhh!" Luffy cut him off with a finger to Zoro's lips as he spotted something far above them. It was a bird. "There's a bird! A ** _** big one! ** _ ** " **

** Zoro swatted Luffy's finger away. "So?" **

** "Let's eat that bird!" **

** "How are you going to catch it? We don't have guns." **

** "Guns?" Luffy looked at him. "Why would we need guns? We can just catch it!" The boy latched onto the sail's pole. "Gum Gum Rocket!" **

** Zoro watched his captain fly up high and right into the path of the bird. The aim was spectacular, but with no thought in planning whatsoever, instead of Luffy catching the bird, the bird caught him in its mouth. **

While some laughed good-heartedly, some were mostly exasperated. Sabo didn't even blink. Luffy getting eaten was a pretty common occurrence.

** Zoro growled. He just saw his captain got eaten by a bird passing by. But somehow, he didn't feel like his piracy was over. Instead, this just felt like the beginning. He put his foot down and began to paddle furiously. **

"Luffy-voy and Zoro-voy are separated," Ivankov commented, "Who are we going to be witnessing?"

It wasn't long to find out. The scene didn't blur, instead they merely slide along with Zoro who was paddling to reach Luffy and the bird. He's paddling quite fast. Of course, Shirahoshi was the first one to spot the three men drifting nearby.

** "OI OI!" **

** "Stop the boat!" **

** "Help us!" **

** Zoro broke his gaze from his captain and looked back on his shoulders to see three men trying desperately to stay afloat. The swordsman growled in irritation, "I don't have time to stop! You guys get on yourselves!" **

** And Zoro didn't stop paddling. In fact, he went even faster actually, and the three men were knocked away by his force, but somehow managed to latch onto the sides and climb aboard. **

Shanks jumped up in glee. "Hahahaha! He ran them over!"

** "Oi!" One of the men said. This time, he was acting menacingly. He had drawn his sword, and his friends pulled an ugly face too. "Stop the boat! This is the pirate Buggy-sama's territory..." **

Oh, now Shanks took notice of their attire. The man threatening Luffy's swordsman wore a hat with Buggy's Jolly Roger on it. "Oh, man. They met Buggy this early."

** Zoro turned around to face them, sporting a scary expression. "What." **

** In an instant, two had taken handle of the paddles, and the one in the middle dropped his sword and instead clasped his hands, and all three of them smiled awkwardly. "Hehehehe, w-w-we didn't know you were the Pirate Hunter Zoro!" **

"Ugh," Yasopp grimaced at how easily cowed those three were.

** "You three made me lose track of my friend! Paddle faster! If I don't find him, you're dead!" **

** "Aye!" **

"Hmmm."

"..."

"Hmmmmmm..."

They continued to follow Zoro (their positions just slide along actually).

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..."

"Oh, for God's sake, what is it?!" Smoker scowled at Emporio Ivankov.

"Ah," the man unfolded his arms. "I am merely curious how loyal Zoro-voy already is to Luffy-voy." The okama nodded to look wise but only looked stuck-up. "Logically, Luffy-voy getting eaten by a bird should have discouraged Zoro who was just recruited not an hour ago or so."

"That's because Luffy-senpai is awesome!" Bartolomeo shouted.

"Ignoring that highly biased _input_ ," Law drawled. "I don't see how that's such a curiosity."

"Well, what do you think then?" Law's former Warlord colleague goaded. Law wasn't sure who was more irritating, her or Crocodile.

He scoffed. "Mugiwara-ya just have an innate sense to recruit crazy people. The kind of crazy that makes adults abandon their entire life plans just to go along with his whims."

That actually made Coby smile. "Following their journey from the news," and from rumours. Coby had frequently been trying to follow their trails whenever the marines got word of their location. Once they arrive in an island, some of the time, they'll get reports of sightings of Straw Hat. Most of the time, the reports were useless, because somehow the crew were all over the bloody islands. "They're certainly irresponsible."

"Like they're living days that ended in childhood," Bartolomeo said with no small amount of wonder.

"Wild and free," Shanks grinned too.

"Wild and free, his crewmates, _sure,_ " Law grumbled to himself. _Lu-ya's more like a barely controlled hurricane._

** "Oh, yeah, why were you three swimming in the middle of the ocean?" **

** "That girl!" **

** "Yeah! That bad girl!" **

** "But she's really cute too!" **

Everything blurred again, but they were still in the middle of the ocean. They surrounded a boat just like Luffy and Zoro's, but the ship's flag was black and sported Buggy's Jolly Roger.

** "Yahoo! Buggy-sama will greatly reward us!" **

** "Who knew that tiny ship would carry so much loot!" **

** "Oi! What's that little boat doing there?" **

** "I spot someone lying limp there!" **

Unable to identify the person far from him, Sabo was struck with curiosity. Could using kenbunshoku haki work on this 'false' reality? Flicking out the enormous presence of the people also witnessing Lu's pirate journey, Sabo pinpointed to the person by the small ship. It didn't take long for him to recognize that it was Luffy's navigator.

Vivi gasped. "Nami!"

"Nami-chin!" Shirahoshi exclaimed. "Oh, no, what has she been through?"

** "It's a girl! Hey!" One shouted once they drew closer to Nami's boat. "You almost dead?" **

** From their insistent tugging, Nami finally woke up groggily. "Erm... Ah... Someone... I actually found someone..." She weakly tried to sit back up. "P-please help me. Give me a cup of water? I was in a shipwreck... A small piece of bread would be nice t-too." She weakly pointed to the treasure chest beside her. "I'll give this to you, just please save me..." **

Shirahoshi stared in confusion. "That doesn't seem like Nami-chin at all. How had she become the person who loves money so much?"

"I don't think Nami-ya's actually that desperate," Law said. The doctor saw the ghost of a smirk. He knew a con when he sees one.

** They grinned. "Sure! We'll help ya! But we'll see the treasure first!" All three of the Buggy pirates hopped over to Nami's boat and circled around the treasure chest, ignoring Nami who was still begging for water. "To get another treasure chest so soon! Lucky!" **

** "I'm glad you like it so much. I'll give you the boat too as a bonus!" **

** "WHAT?!" They yelled in shock, both from the fact that the weak, starving and dehydrated girl was actually quite healthy and just stole their boat, and the fact that her treasure chest was actually empty. **

Everyone pitied those three, and even Sengoku was having a tough time to keep himself from smirking at the girl's trick.

** "Oh, watch out for those clouds~" Nami sang. The turbulence intensity in the atmosphere had exceeded the threshold, and the microscopic water droplets collision rate will greatly increase, "They are storm clouds, you know? If I explain the process about how those cumulus clouds will affect you, your brains would probably explode from information overload! So I'll simplify it to you: The wind will pick up... and your boat will sink!" As if it was a magic word called forth by a witch, they were showered by an abrupt rainstorm, one violent enough that Nami's small boat was quickly overwhelmed by the weight of the water. **

** "Bye bye~ I'm taking your treasure!" **

Sabo whistled in appreciation. He had to learn very hard to master navigational skills, but Nami seems to be a natural at it. Such a tough job, but she made it look so easy.

The quick shower gave away from existence, and the sinking ship suddenly lost the water drowning it. The three Buggy pirates were no longer screaming in fear but hid their terror behind false smiles as they cower before Zoro.

** "So you got tricked," Zoro said with the same calm voice Luffy had used on him, the one that was so condescending the receiver's skin itches. **

** "If I find her, I'll kill her!" **

** "We have got to get our loot back from her!" **

** "If we go back with nothing, Buggy-sama will be angry!" **

** Zoro blinked. "Who's Buggy?" **

** "Haven't you heard of Buggy the Clown?!" **

** "Oh, I heard of him. He's the best guy for birthday party tricks, right?" **

Shanks spluttered in glee. Oh, Buggy! A clown for kids' birthday parties! _Oh_ , the redhead clutched his stomach. _It's so terrible Buggy's not here with us! He has got to KNOW that!_

Ivankov didn't agree with the Yonko's glee. Buggy would sooner slice them with swords than play a clown.

** "He's our pirate leader!" **

** "He's a dangerous man! He ate one of the Devil Fruits!" **

** Zoro hummed, finally interested. **

The ship blurred again, appearing as a very big ship this time.

"Hmm, so that's Buggy's Big Top," Shanks stated. He had only ever seen it in its heavily damaged form.

Law, Vivi and Carue should be used to _right-in-your-face_ colours after travelling on the Straw Hat's ships, but Buggy's Big Top was still an experience.

** Big Top was a brightly coloured ship, giving off a circus-like feel (thank God the purple-painted wood wasn't awful). It sported some circus tents on the ship too. The figurehead was a yellow elephant, but its trunk was installed with a couple of bombards, ranging from three to five feet in length. A familiar redhead was climbing up the ship's keel and was reaching up to get a hold of one of the gun portholes. **

Finding what she was definitely attempting to do interesting, they walked closer in curiosity to see whether she'll succeed or not. Ask them now, and they would definitely say Nami was a spectacular thief, but "back then", none of them knew.

** Orange eyes glanced inside the keel. She found no one, or rather,  ** _** confirmed  ** _ ** there was nobody inside the ship and that every single one of the Buggy Pirates was situated on the decks, settling down to enjoy their beverages for the next hours and egging whoever was weak and humiliated one for the week just so they could make themselves look stronger. Nami giggled excitedly. "Not in education, employment, or training, and that lady think my life is hard?" Nami said to herself, remembering the remarks from one of the passengers on the cruise ship she pilfered the other day, "She's just a normal wife with a normal husband who never knows what it is in the seas." She gave no regard to the shouts on the upper deck, but Nami was vigilant all the same – she doesn't understand why some people just don't lock their windows or balcony doors, but it made everything easier – when entering Buggy's  ** _** captain's cabin ** _ **. **

Out of habit, all the warriors present started taking note of all sharp objects within reaching distance, any obtrusive items or suspicious things – field reconnaissance a battle-ready person would do every time they enter unknown territory. It took one to three seconds for them to realize they and everything around them exists on different planes.

** It was insane for a young teen like her to sneak inside a cabin belonging to the dangerous pirate who has been terrorizing so many towns, but a young teen such as herself was an exception. The planning, the sneaking, the lock-picking, the key-searching, the escaping completely without anyone noticing that she had stolen what was  ** _** theirs  ** _ ** and they were all now  ** _** hers  ** _ ** – it made her high, and Nami was aware it was a dangerous adrenaline addiction that she was indulging. "Robbing assholes blind is ** _** so ** _ ** much fun." **

Vivi glanced at her redhead friend in worry. She kept looking back to the door, expecting it would suddenly open to reveal a Buggy Pirate and Nami would have to deal with whoever they are all alone without other Straw Hats. She felt a furry hand tap her shoulder and turned to see Carrot. "Don't worry, Princess," the mink's bunny ears twitched, "no one's near Nami. They're all above the deck."

"Worrying would not affect anything either," Marco commented. "All of this happened in the past. We all know the Straw Hats are perfectly fine."

Turning slightly to eye the Zoan user, Vivi opened her mouth but quickly bit her lip. _Oh, boys_. They don't know what life is like for a female. Every second around others without protection made women keenly aware of the possibility someone would force them to do _vile_ things. Witnessing Luffy, and Zoro, an hour ago hadn't made her worry. Luffy was just. He was so strong, this worry she has had not crossed her mind. But now, seeing her friend, back to when she relied only on her cunning and never persistently bugged Zoro to train her to develop some strength, Vivi was worried to witness... bad things. Nami was very pretty, after all...

** Nami wasn't advancing towards Buggy's desk in a straight line but instead circled the room towards it, idly letting her eyes roam. Whenever a particularly fancy trinket – money, jewellery, weaponry that would sell quite nicely – caught her orange eyes, her hands became as quick as a snake and the items were safely stored inside her shirt and skirt's  ** _** outer and inner pockets. ** _

Law almost gave the Cat Burglar applause. She stitched those pockets herself. It seems she took her profession as a thief very seriously.

** Nami examined the desk for a moment before picking up a steel tea lid. Pivoting on her front leg, she opened the drawer in a gentle manner which was soon betrayed by her greedy fingers snatching up the parchment stored inside. Nami put the tea lid back, the item of no use – she had picked it just in case Buggy the Clown was the kind of smart and complicated man to put a trap such as an automatic gun mechanism to protect his drawer but alas, Buggy the Clown was not that sort of careful man. **

** As though it was a precious artefact, Nami unfurled the parchment with care and exploded into a grin. _"Yes_ , the navigation chart to the Grand Line!" **

"She's been planning to leave for Grand Line _this_ early?" Vivi questioned worriedly.

Crocodile quirked an eyebrow. "Going to the Grand Line at her level?"

"Too ambitious for her own good," Law said. "Then again, so is Mugiwara-ya and Roronoa-ya."

"He really knows how to pick his crew," Sabo marvelled. Even Dragon found himself giving a small smile.

** Continuing on, she opened the door. **

** And saw a head painted in chalk-white and two hands covered in white gloves floating in front of her, yellow-lensed eyes locking with hers. **

** Both the thief and the clown screamed. **

"Oh, no! I didn't hear anything!" Carrot exclaimed. She forgot about Buggy's powers that enabled him to cut himself into pieces and fly from A to B, thus avoiding making any sounds of feet stepping on the floor.

"Nami, just swat him away like a fly!" Vivi yelled.

"Nami-chin, run!"

** Nami didn't run, she jumped. Right out of the window because she remembered the Big Top was docked near the decks and there were barrels and crates below her. **

"Do all thieves jump like that?" Sabo idly wondered to himself. He and his brothers always freaked Makino out whenever they blatantly showed their lack of regard for heights and sharp angles.

** Clutching the navigational chart tightly in her hands, she made way past through the streets which were empty due to the Buggy Pirates terrorizing the people to cower inside their homes, three Buggy Pirates hot on her tail. **

** "You can't run from us!" **

** "Get that bitch!" **

** "Stop!" **

** "THIEF! THAT'S MY MAP!" Buggy yelled, his head and hands finally attached to his body above the decks. **

** "Buggy-sama!" One of the Buggy pirates alerted his hands on a binocular. "There's an unknown flying object in the air!" **

** "ARGH! SHOOT IT DOWN!" **

** "AYE!" **

** Freshly loaded since this morning, the Buggy Pirates shot the cannon and hit their target perfectly. The unknown flying object crashed right between Nami and the three Buggy Pirates. The unknown flying object actually looked like a certain someone. **

Marco _did_ applause at this. "Ace's little brother can certainly make fantastic first impressions."

"Mmmfufufu, Ve did vell from the sky too, didn't ve, Crocodile-buru?" The Okama nudged the sandman with an elbow. If he were a normal-sized human, Ivankov would have nudged Crocodile's side, but with him being three feet more than Crocodile's eight feet high, his elbow poked the man's cheeks instead. Crocodile snarled.

** The smoke from the impact revealed a heavily injured bird and a perfectly fine Luffy. Having been inside the bird's mouth, Luffy didn't have a speck of dirt, but he certainly smells like seawater, but thankfully, didn't reek of fish. "Who the heck shot me with a cannon?" Luffy grumbled, but his frown dissipated once his hand confirmed the safety of his hat on top of his head. "At least I have finally gotten out of that bird!" **

** An idea crossed Nami's mind. She scrambled up from her knees, discreetly tucking the navigation chart in her shirt, to clasp her hands and smiled at the new guy who just fell out of the sky, "Oh, Boss!" **

"'Oh, Boss'?" Bartolomeo repeated.

"Oh, I know what she's doing," Law smirked.

"She's certainly fast to take advantage," Marco added, also aware of Nami's ploy. "Nice."

** "You're finally here! Please save me, Boss!" Then the girl turned tail and ran away, "I'll leave everything to you!" **

Nami, who was deviously grinning passed through Dragon's body as if she were a ghost.

Everyone else was preeeeetty curious how the man himself was feeling towards the Straw Hat navigator who just tossed his son under the bus, but his facial expression didn't betray any.

** Everyone else was recovering from the shock of seeing someone literally fall out of the sky. "She's getting away!" **

** "We don't need to chase after her. Her Boss is right here!" One Buggy Pirate pointed to Luffy who was still watching the redhead fleeing the scene, and he caught Luffy's attention. **

** "Who're you?" **

** "You're her Boss!" **

** "Give us back the map!" **

** Luffy cocked his head in confusion. He didn't have any map, and he wasn't any female's boss. **

His confused face was something Sabo was very familiar with. He bet his hat Luffy was thinking that maybe the Buggy Pirates mistook him for someone else, completely ignoring their hostility.

Sengoku wasn't certain whether Straw Hat even noticed their hostility.

Then it happened. One of them made a grave mistake.

** One of them knocked Luffy's hat off. **

It was a mistake that made anyone familiar with Straw Hats' rage against any slight against the Straw Hat of the Straw Hats tense _just_ a little bit.

** The pirate practically felt the anger fueling Luffy's punch to his face. The force made him crash to the rabble ground, and he had to choke out some dust and knocked off a tooth that was a little more than a bloody pebble. Having taken his revenge, Luffy gracefully put his hat back on. "None of you touches my treasure." **

** "You bastard!" The pirate's crewmate hurtled to the straw-hatted teen. Each was downed by Double Pistols. **

** "Wow!" Luffy lifted his head to see the same redhead sitting idly on a balcony above. He guessed she had watched the entire thing. "You're so strong! You were barehanded, but those swords were nothing to you!" She continued. **

** "Who are you?" Luffy asked, not impressed by the praise. **

** "Nami. I'm a thief who steals from pirates," Nami introduced herself. "Robbing assholes blind gets my blood running. The fighting's fun, but I didn't want to deal with it. Thanks for that! Hey, why don't you join me?" **

** "I have no reason to join you," Luffy turned around. **

Bartolomeo and Vivi's jaws dropped.

"I admit, I didn't expect that-buru," Ivankov gasped.

Yasopp put a hand under his chin. "It's pretty funny how unimpressed he was with Zoro too."

Shanks shrugged, answering his sniper's question 'What did Nami did to make Luffy recruit her?' that went unspoken.

** The blunt dismissal didn't deter her. "Hey, wait!" To close the distance between them, Nami gracefully jumped off the balcony. Catching up to the boy, she heard Luffy's stomach growl. "Hungry?" **

** Luffy affirmed. **

** This is her chance! "How about I treat you?" **

Nami? Treating other people? As in, _spending money_ for them? Vivi marvelled.

And for that matter, _buying Lu-ya_ ** _food_** _?_ Law resisted the urge to pinch himself.

** Brown eyes lit up in delight. "Really? Thanks!" **

** Nami nodded rapidly. She figured he was a nice guy, but she was still careful whenever her back was turned. Nami led Luffy to a house nearby. "There's the fridge. Help yourself." **

** Luffy whooped happily and raided the refrigerator. Nami spotted a plate filled with bread on the table in the kitchen, and after checking it wasn't stale or housing an insect or mushroom, she ate them while watching the boy wolf down the food inside like a starved man. How odd, he certainly didn't have any problems when beating up the Buggy Pirates. Plus, his body looked very healthy. **

** Suddenly, the lightweight in her hand disappeared. The bread instantly jumped from her hand and into Luffy's mouth. "Hey! You didn't have to steal my food!" **

_ He steals EVERYONE's food. _

_ (And by some miracle he keeps finding people who WOULD feed him.) _

** Luffy ignored her rebuke. "You live here alone?" **

** "I don't live here. Or this town, really," Nami answered truthfully. "The locals here ran away because the Buggy Pirates terrorised them. Some are still around but, they just hide in their homes and wait for one of the docks to clear to sail away." **

_ Ah _ , Vivi relaxed her shoulders, releasing a tension she didn't realize to have conjured. The Cat Burglar was just giving Luffy _other people_ 's food.

** "Why isn't anyone around?" **

** Nami stared. Didn't she just— "I just said they're avoiding the pirates! Weren't you listening?!" **

** "Oh, so you're stealing from these houses," Luffy said, quite hypocritical for the one eating what she's 'stealing' from said houses. **

** "The food was just lying around! Might as well not waste it," Nami dismissed. "And don't compare me to some petty house thief. I only steal from pirates!" **

** "But a thief's a thief right?" Luffy asked. **

** The way this boy is dismissing her… Nami set her jaw, scoffing. "When it comes down to it, technically I'm not even one. None of the money I steal is going to end up mine anyway." **

** "Oh, you're hunting? How much?" **

** Something must be possessing her to keep answering him. He just asked so earnestly. "100 million berry." He didn't react to the figure. "I'll get it. No matter what," Nami insisted. **

** "Kay," Luffy swallowed the entire content of the bucket of yoghurt. His teeth didn't even chatter from cold. "What do you need all that money for?" **

** A little bit pissed, Nami just said, "Secret." **

** "How are you going to get all that money?" **

** "If you have a map to the Grand Line," Nami crossed her arms, and stopped herself from sighing in relief when she felt the paper brush against her skin inside her shirt, "One hundred million berry isn't a dream." **

Shanks knew somewhere, Anchor and his nakama were also watching this. He bet Nami's regretting to see this. Everyone does when they see exactly how mistaken and naïve they have been in the past.

** "You a navigator?" **

** Nami smiled proudly for herself. "You're looking at one of the best navigators around." **

** "You're joining my pirate crew!" **

** Her attitude changed drastically. "When flowers start growing in hell!" She thought he was a nice guy, but clearly his whole— ** _** thing ** _ ** —whatever was just a friendly act.  ** _** A pirate! ** _ ** "You're a pirate!" **

** "Yup," Luffy acted as the situation wasn't spiraling down, tenderly touching his straw hat. "I promised the man who gave me this hat that I would become a great pirate." **

** "W-wha…" That's such an earnest answer, such a ** _** good  ** _ ** answer, but she couldn't believe such a nice promise was meant for him to become evil!  ** _** A pirate! ** _

Vivi cringed when Nami scowled coldly.

Bartolomeo's eyebrows rose, "Nami-senpai _really_ hated pirates."

** "Hey, is there more of this orange juice here?" The boy lightly slammed a glass he just emptied. **

** "You want some orange juice?" **

** "Thanks!" **

** "The jug is over there," Nami spat out. **

** Undeterred, Luffy leaned back from his seat in front of the refrigerator and bent backwards until his fingertips reached the jug, even though he could have just stretched himself. "Why do you hate pirates so much?" The self-proclaimed pirate asked. **

** "After what they did—!" Nami cut herself off. Shit! Why does she keep answering this boy! She slammed both of her hands on the table, making Luffy's fond expression disappear. "I hate pirates more than anything in the world! I only love money and tangerines!" **

** Luffy disregarded her. "Oh well." His hand opened the bottom drawer of the fridge and to his delight, more food! **

He blinked. _Will this be a recurring theme_? "It is rather strange to see how he easily dismisses them." They all agreed with Katakuri's assessment. Because, Monkey D. Luffy had never showed the kind of attitude he used to most people, especially persistent marines, the sort of attitude of giving absolutely no fucks until you feel like your nothing but cannon fodder, towards his nakama. Besides his amazingly terrifying habit to leave chaos everywhere, Straw Hat was famous for sticking up with his crew through heaven and hell.

** Luffy put his whole attention to his food and most likely didn't notice Nami giving him a positively evil smile. "You know what? I change my mind." **

** "Really?" It was uttered by a mouth filled with food: only five minutes and the refrigerator's bare. **

** "Yeah, if you accept my conditions. I'll think about joining your crew." **

** "Hmmmmm, I have to repay you for getting me lunch anyway." **

Law's lips twitched violently.

** "I want you to meet Buggy the Clown." **

** "Kay! Let's go!" Kicking off the chair, Luffy ignored it crashing against a stool and headed for the front door. **

** His arm was caught by Nami, "Hey, wait! I gotta bring something first." Nami let him go to scour a nearby room and came back with several lengths of rope. "Now, we go. Follow me." **

** An amused look crossed Luffy's face. "Follow you?" **

** "Yes," Nami said with no mind and hoped she didn't show him her surprise at the weird question. **

** "What's with the rope?" **

** "Duh, it's a rope," Nami rolled her eyes. "How do you think we're going to climb up Buggy's ship, fly?" **

Law's palm met his forehead. But, contrary to what he just predicted, Luffy didn't manhandle Nami to demonstrate his 'Gum Gum Rocket'.

** The walk was surprisingly short, and they were unexpectedly lucky to have missed any Buggy Pirates lugging around or trying to 'coax' frightened townspeople outside of their cellars and attics. The thief and the pirate arrived in front of what looked like a pub, but it could be something entirely different from the circus tent on top of the big building. **

** "This is where the pirates are staying at. Here, quick – and stay put," Nami wrapped him up with the rope. The girl was almost tempted to laugh at the pirate's naivete. After securing the knot, she encircled her wrist with the other end of the rope to make sure Luffy won't run away. "Now lay down okay," she instructed gently. Luffy let her knock him to the ground with her knee to his back and tightened the ropes around him again. But then she yelled out, "Idiot!" **

** Luffy was confused. "What are you doing?" He yelled. **

Sabo peeked through his fingers – his hands having covered his face. In shame? Certainly not in fear, but…

"This is how they met?" Vivi squeaked. "She certainly never mentioned this…"

"I know the Nami of _now_ , but if this is how she was back then Lucy's really amazing to have changed her so much," Rebecca wondered.

Yasopp took a step to draw the princess of Dressrosa's attention. "I'm just wondering, why do you keep calling him 'Lucy'?"

"I met him when he was an old man," she said with a straight face.

"Oh, if this continues, you'll see why, anyway!" Carrot beamed.

"What is Nami-senpai going to do to Luffy-senpai?!"

** There was a brief commotion after Nami's exclamation, pirates in various state of dresses spilt out of the bar. They all at least held onto a recurring theme: circus performers. Each was eccentric. Then a man came out, dressed in the most typical fashion of a clown with a giant red nose, white-painted face and lips covered in red. **

** Buggy the Clown. 15 million berries. **

** "What is going on here!" **

** The redhead slipped her hand in her skirt and showed the clown pirate the navigational chart to Grand Line. "I’m returning your chart and have captured you the guy who ordered me to, Buggy the Clown!" Nami said, conscious that every men here were watching her. Seeing Luffy's upset look at her lie, she stuck out her tongue at him. **

Sengoku wanted to despair. "So… easily captured…" Why can't his marines ever manage this?!

** "I see," Buggy grinned. "You're obediently returning the map to me. Why?" **

** A beautiful smile appeared on her face. "He's very stupid! Let me join the Buggy crew!" **

Shanks applauded her. _Someone_ had to. "Just look at Buggy's face."

"You do realize she sold Anchor off, right?" Yasopp questioned. His captain sometimes got a little too dim to realize things…

"It's not as if any of this will matter that greatly," Aokiji said, and the pirate returned the marine's pointed look.

Smoker sighed. "Bloody Straw Hats…"

** Perfectly amused to the point he couldn't stop laughing for a minute, Buggy let her be part of his crew, and Luffy was promptly hauled inside a cage with steel bars, complete with a lock. At least it wasn't rusty. Luffy tched in annoyance, "I don't want her in my crew anymore!" **

"Wait, so he was _still_ trying to recruit her?" Hancock blurted out. It was in vain, but, she had been hoping Luffy had dismissed _that woman_. And that whatever character reformation she obviously went through to be such a loyal crew member would take a while longer.

God. It had been bad enough stewing in jealousy when it was just the swordsman and the marine boy.

** Happy by the recovery of his map, Buggy emptied out the cellar of whoever the fuck previously owned the bar. Nami certainly wasn't intimidated from being surrounded by such large men. In fact, she was having fun drinking them down the table – though there were no tables and just crates and a bunch of stuff since they're partying on the roof – and winning bets. **

Shanks pitifully continued to try lifting a beer bottle. His hand just kept passing through it.

While some were perfectly okay to just stand (or float? Shirahoshi still wasn't sure _what_ her body was doing) like ghosts among the partying crew, most preferred to stick to the unoccupied floors due to their position being away from the stupid drunk men, coincidentally, that was also where Luffy's cage was placed on.

The semi-aquatic marine mammal stood the closest to Luffy, admiring how the boy was gnawing his teeth on the steel cage bars. Dugong was kind of amazed that human teeth could be that strong. Law had to take a second to distance himself from Luffy's ridiculousness to realise Luffy's teeth and gums were a lot more malleable than a normal human mouth.

** Sidestepping another drunk Buggy Pirate, Nami approached Luffy. "How's it going~?" **

** "Let me out!" Luffy wanted to bang his head against the bars to free himself, but then he remembered he still had his hat on and he was hesitant to damage it. "I'm hungry too! Give me some food, at least!" **

** Nami exhaled and threw a look behind her shoulder. Everyone was too drunk, and Buggy wasn't paying attention to anything, so she walked over to the table of food –  ** unknowingly passing through Sengoku and Katakuri when she tried to avoid the Buggy Pirates' drunken pathways. Yasopp turned to see his captain sporting a sad face, the beer bottle he was trying to get a sip on in vain snatched by a random Buggy Pirate – **and came back to Luffy's cage with a plate of whatever she just randomly snatched from the mass of bodies dancing and brawling.**

** She knelt to put a slice of chicken meat into Luffy's mouth but considering the plate was very close, the boy's headshot forward and he practically inhaled the chunks of chicken cuts. Nami cursed and in her shock, the plate fell off her hands and broke into pieces on the floor. **

** "You," Luffy chewed, entirely unbothered by the few pieces of glass near his exposed ankles. "You're a nice person.  ** _** Yum ** _ **. I guess I'll let you join my crew." **

Ivankov laughed while beside him, Hancock crossed her arms in annoyance.

"He makes it sound as if she was asking him to join his crew," Smoker smirked. Watching him instead of directly dealing with him proved to be amusing, actually.

** Nami snapped at him, "I told you I don't want to join your crew, damn it! Don't you realise your situation?! You're probably going to be sold as a slave!" **

** "What!" Luffy was shocked. **

Crocodile was mildly shocked that the boy didn't choke on his food.

** "I don't wanna be a slave!" **

** "Then keep still. If my plan works, I'll unlock you and let you run away." **

** "BWAHAHAHAHA!" Buggy came from behind –  ** though Luffy and everyone watching knew he was approaching. **"You've got yourself a pretty good follower there!"**

** "She's not my follower." **

** "Ah, yes. I completely forgot that she just BETRAYED you! BWAHAHAHA." Buggy ignored the girl scooting away in favour of getting closer to the thief's boss, smirking to intimidate him. "Even if she returned my map, you still told her to steal what is MINE! So you're getting what you deserve!" **

** Luffy wasn't intimidated. Actually, he didn't seem to realize he was even in danger. "Oh, you're letting me go?" **

** "Yeah I'm letting you go—YOU THINK I'M THAT STUPID?!" Buggy drank his glass empty and threw it to a nearby wall, "BOYS! Prepare the 'Buggy Special Cannon-ball!'" **

Sengoku snorted in distaste. Years of dealing with pirates, and he was still surprised by how narcissistic they can get.

** "Watch this!" Buggy rapped the cage and directed Luffy's attention by pointing to one of his men holding a seemingly ordinary cannon-ball, unique only due to having been given to some poor fellow forced to paint the Buggy JOLLY ROGER on it. "The Buggy Special Cannon-ball's power!" **

They couldn't help but notice exactly where Buggy was aiming.

Yasopp wished Buggy could see his ex-cabin mate's disappointed look.

** The cannon shot. Packed inside the average-looking ball was a tremendous amount of explosive power. If it were a normal cannonball, the round shot would just make spherical holes through some walls before getting stuck in the debris. But it was aptly named for a reason, and it shot through an entire row of houses. Made of wood, all eight individual house blocks were ruined, the bottom floors not surviving after being crushed by the top floors and their own roofs. **

Vivi clenched her fists. "There are—there are still some people in these houses." Dugong and Carue frowned and tried to support her. The others were, well, honestly, they were… used to such destructive whims.

They continued to watch – not like they were able to do anything else, really. But any previous humour had vanished and Dragon was more than aware everyone was tense. The marines were reminded that they were destructive pirates and their hackles visibly raised.

** The Buggy Pirates cheered, and their Captain swatted aside the pirate who had destroyed the houses to position the cannon so that the artillery's muzzle was pointed right at the straw-hatted boy. "The power is so great. It can wipe out this tiny town in one shot! The powers I have gained from my Devil Fruit assure my future success at the Grand Line!" **

Shanks wanted to facepalm but opted to try to find a seat to sit down. Unfortunately, he fell on his butt.

Garp stared. "And you're doing…?"

"I forgot we couldn't touch anything here!" Shanks tched and crossed his legs, visibly upset.

Crocodile sneered at both of the ex-Roger Pirates.

** "Now," Buggy finally turned his attention to his latest recruit, who was frozen like a statue. "It's your turn." **

** She looked at him, sweating. So Buggy continued, "You shoot your ex-boss to show me your loyalty and sincerity. Get rid of your old boss once and for all!" **

"Nami-chin's not going to!" Shirahoshi yelled out of nowhere, but it was a sentiment Vivi wholeheartedly agree with. Law, and Rebecca too, _would_ agree… but they know the strong woman who could fry you with the very thunder, not the thief who relies on trickery to weasel her way up, still possessing the naïve mindset that she could take on Grand Line just because she has the navigational chart to head there. Still, the mermaid clearly had faith.

** "Kill that guy… Me?" Nami said quietly. **

** Luffy just looked at them. **

** Nami looked back to Buggy, her flailing hands betraying her nervousness. "N...Captain Buggy! I’m just fine forgetting about him! I don't need to kill him! Let's just drink some more! We were having fun!" **

** "Kill him." **

** She stood still, numb in fear. She wasn't sure what she was seeing, but she could hear all the Buggy Pirates shouting  ** _** shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT, KILL HIM— ** _

** "You're hands are shaking." **

** Nami's vision focused on Luffy, who was smiling. **

** "That's what you get for only being half prepared to mess with pirates." **

** The fuse was there. "Prepared? Prepared to take human life so easily? Is that what it takes to be a pirate?" Nami asked. Why was she even asking for an answer? **

** She just needs to lit it to burn down the gunpowder. **

** "No." **

** Which will explode violently. **

** "You gotta be prepared to risk your own life." **

** And propel the cannon straight at Luffy. **

** "Oi, new kid, stop wasting your time!" A Buggy Pirate snatched the matchbox in Nami's tense hand. "Don't you know how to light a fuse?" **

** Or she can take on these fucking pirates. **

In Luffy and Nami's silence and the general commotion of the Buggy Pirates egging her on, they discussed in either dread or unwavering faith, but one thing in common they all were demonstrating their morbid curiosity.

The mermaid and desert princess had faith Nami wasn't going to shoot at Luffy. It wasn't something most were certain about, and while Law and Rebecca were inclined to also agree… they held some doubts.

"She shot my husband?!" Hancock hissed.

"I haven't actually confirmed this, but are you and Luffy-senpai truly married?!" Bartolomeo exclaimed.

"How many times do I have to say this: you're not married to my precious grandson!" Garp snapped. Aokiji even nodded.

"Lu-ya's not your husband," Law grumbled.

"Since when are you two married?" Crocodile inquired.

"You _sure_ about that?" Sabo grimaced.

Rebecca blinked. "Wait, so she's _not_?"

The pinkette was pulled down a bit so the mink could whisper to her ear, "I'm pretty sure she's delusional." Then Carrot leaned back and spoke with a normal volume. "Luffy never said he was married."

Vivi leaned back to get closer to them. "Yeah, this is Luffy after all."

Carue quacked. His pinniped friend sneezed.

"If Ace's baby brother was married, you'd think he'd throw a huge ass party over it," Marco said. "I've heard RUMOURS about Straw Hats parties."

"Oh, they're fun," Aokiji said, nearly scaring the shit out of them for actually listening to the inane banter. "I've seen it."

"If there was no marine captain or higher blessing the wedding," Sengoku began, looking as if he was reciting a guide for marriage, and with the way, he was standing and looking over them as if they were children he might as well be, "Your marriage is not acknowledged."

The look in her eyes was pure venom. "SHE shot my Luffy!"

"We don't _know_ if she actually did!" The desert princess retorted, entirely missing Hancock's point. The Empress wasn't concerned about Luffy getting shot – such a stupid attack would never hurt her husband. Hancock was much more concerned about the _navigator._ The FEMALE navigator. "And even if she did, Luffy obviously had forgiven her!"

In the interest of ending this petty debacle, Law stoked the fire further, "This isn't the Nami _we_ know."

Hancock shot _Trafalgar_ a venomous glare. Not that MALES are any safer!

"Nami-chin's not going to!" Shirahoshi yelled out. Her eyes teared up, but the lone tear that escaped her tear ducts were swept away by something sticky and smelled very sweet. Following the appendage, she found it was attached to the Big Mom pirate present.

Katakuri offered her a nod. He hated it when people cry. With 82 younger siblings, he wasn't suffering babies crying if he could help it. "Rather than worrying about what Straw Hat's navigator has done, let's pay more attention to him."

Ivankov hmmed. "I agree!"

Dragon had been doing just that while everyone else was bickering. He knew his son wasn't married to the Pirate Empress. While time had passed only for three hours minus ten minutes for them, it had obviously gone a lot more for the people they are watching. His son has been sailing for at most three days, and he was curious as to how Luffy was handling the blatant threat to his mortality.

** Luffy was as cool as a cucumber compared to Nami who was practically frozen like an ice cube slowly melting under the heat. **

** "You're hands are shaking." **

Luffy had been silent up until now, and without realizing, they were hanging onto his words.

** "That's what you get for only being half prepared to mess with pirates." **

Shanks couldn't help but let the big ass grin occupy his face. Luffy seriously paid attention to him, didn't he? He just felt so flattered and damnably proud!

** "Prepared? Prepared to take human life so easily? Is that what it takes to be a pirate?" Nami asked. Why was she even asking for an answer? **

Hancock narrowed her eyes at the redhead's fingers propping the matchbox open.

** "No," Luffy answered. "You gotta be prepared to risk your own life." **

It was certainly something they all agreed with. Some even caught themselves nodding.

** "Oi, new kid, stop wasting your time!" A Buggy Pirate snatched the matchbox in Nami's tense hand. "Don't you know how to light a fuse?" **

** As if Nami had not let her mind wander a hair too long, slightly bending her knee to lift her skirt, she swiftly fished out the three pieces of her bo staff strapped on her thigh. Attaching the pieces with a graceful motion, Nami knocked the Buggy Pirate down when the butt of her bo staff slammed his neck's sweet spot.**

"I knew she wouldn't kill Luffy!"

** "WHAT THE HELL!" Amongst the roar of anger and disbelief, Buggy's was the loudest. "I gave you the chance to shoot!" **

** Nami turned her back to Luffy and faced the volatile pirates. "Pirates stole the life of someone who was precious to me! I hate you, pirates, more than anything!" **

"Maybe she'd kill Luffy _later_ , bwahahaha," Garp joked.

** "Huh?" Luffy cried out. "You're saving me now?" **

** The redhead answered him without turning her back to the pirates reaching for the swords and guns, "I'm not going to lower myself to kill like you beastly pirates!" **

** Then Luffy let out strings of cuss words when he noticed the fuse had been successfully lit. The pirate Nami took out had struck the match hard enough to make a spark, and now he's going to get blasted by a cannonball! **

** Which won't kill him but it will hurt like hell. **

** "Little bitch making a fool of me!" Unnecessarily pointing at her direction, Buggy yelled out. "Kill her!" **

** The Buggy Pirates, minus the captain himself, tried to swarm Nami. She swung her bo staff with surprising strength, but the arc was obvious and wide, and the Buggy Pirates simply jumped back to avoid her blow. They mocked her choice of move, but Nami didn't bother laughing at them for doing exactly as she intended to. She wasn't trying to sweep them away. While her risky childhood life as a thief let her develop a pretty high level of physical capabilities, she was aiming to move them far enough so she can safely turn her back a bit and stop Luffy from getting blasted right behind her. She was too panicked to instinctively reach for the item, so she ended up turning her entire back to burn out the lit fuse by putting out the fire with her bare hands. **

** She cried out and barely heard Luffy warning her, "Nami, behind you!" **

Nami didn't know there were people other than Luffy warning her to avoid the oncoming assault.

** But instead of crying out from being wounded, or possibly whimpering from being severely wounded, she heard the Buggy Pirates crying out in pain. **

** Throwing a look behind her shoulder, she saw a man in a dirty white shirt and black pants, holding two swords in each hand to block the Buggy Pirates. If they weren't sheathed, the four pirates attempting to attack Nami from behind would be losing half of their heads and one arm, one knee, and one dick. **

"Zoro-senpai has come to the rescue!" Bartolomeo cheered. Carue and Dugong even followed.

** Displaying enormous strength, the man pushed all four pirates to the floor. "Did you get hurt?" He asked her. **

** Nami looked down at her hands and grimaced at how ruined her palms were. That's what you get for putting out fire with your bare hands. She just hopes she could still fight well with her bo staff. **

"Oh, Nami-senpai ruined her beautiful hands!" Bartolomeo cried.

** "Oh, Zoro!" Luffy sounded happy, and she assumed this was  ** _** another  ** _ ** pirate. Any gratefulness or relief towards the green-haired man vanished in an instant. "Get me outta here!" **

** "You!" Zoro certainly didn't seem like was a happy rescuer. "Is this your idea of fun? You get caught by a bird, and now you're tied up in a cage?" **

Thank everything that is holy Law's cheeks didn't burn red at the OTHER meaning Zoro's words could be taken as.

But Hancock noticed he went rigid.

** "Shit!" Luffy cursed again. "I forgot about the bird! I was gonna eat it!" **

** "And why are you staying in that cage? Can't you, I _dunno_ , stretch out?" **

** "I dun' wanna _slide_ out," Luffy whispered to him. "I wanna get rescued." **

But the volume was audible for them anyway. Sengoku snorted.

…Then he subtly cringed away when he saw the dark beauty of a Warlord sighing and muttering 'I'll save you'.

** "Zoro?" **

** "The Pirate Hunter?" **

** "The demon who sent bloody pieces of his targets?" **

"Zoro was never that sort of violent," Vivi frowned. "Exactly how did he get _this_ bad of a reputation?"

** "You're definitely Zoro," Buggy said. "You after my head?" **

** "Not interested. Stopped hunting pirates actually," Zoro answered. **

** "You're his crew member?" Nami spat out. **

** "But _now_ I'm interested in making an example out of you," Buggy grinned. **

"You know, Buggy looks really menacing here," Shanks mock-whispered to his sniper. "But seriously, he's _still_ picking on small fries?"

Yasopp definitely tried to at least be discreet when he spoke. "We all know your reprimands last for an hour or two with him. You haven't check up on him since that year we met Anchor."

** Zoro snorted, unsheathing his swords and putting the third one in his goddamned mouth. "If you want to fight me, I'll let you." **

** Nami flinched when in an instant, the green-haired pirate had sliced Buggy the Clown into three pieces. The strength he put behind him flung Buggy's body parts to crash onto the small roof garden of ylang-ylang. The Buggy Pirates—! What was wrong with them?! Their captain died, but they're just laughing. And Luffy was just fucking nonchalant about it asking for Zoro to find the key to open his cage because he couldn't eat his way out of the cage. **

_** Pirates ** _ **. **

"I'm impressed Straw Hat somehow managed to make her loyal to him," Crocodile spoke.

Marco caught on and mulling it over for a second he nodded along. "She's high on hating pirates and said pirates just murdered a captain and said captain's pirates were just laughing," he pointed out. "Watching it from our perspective?"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Pretty messed up."

** "I can't believe you actually found me!" **

** "What, did you think I would have abandoned you?" **

"It would be a reasonable choice," Katakuri intoned.

"Yes, no one sane would follow a child who just got himself eaten by a bird they're trying to eat," Aokiji shook his head.

** "Nah, I thought you'd get lost," Luffy smiled. **

** "I don't get lost!" **

** "Oh, don't be mad! You love me!" **

** "Yes, and right now, I'm tempted to strangle you." But shortly after Zoro's scowl disappeared, replaced an odd mix of curiosity and disappointment because he realised something. **

"Yes," Smoker said. He recognized that look. "It's impossible to strangle someone who can stretch."

** Though they were chatting freely, the Buggy Pirates' laughter was getting to Zoro's skin. "What's so funny?!" Then pain flared through his lower abdomen, a familiar pain yet at the same time foreign. Because while Zoro had taken stab wounds at his stomach area plenty of times, he had never taken one at the back. As soon as he realized where he had been stabbed –  ** _** at the back  ** _ ** – he felt shame. **

** For fuck's sake, he let his arrogance get to him! **

Dugong protested at the less than honourable attack, but the kung-fu proficient animal was the only one protesting. Everyone else was more than familiar at how there is almost nothing unfair between a pirate fight. They were more distracted by the body pieces of Buggy, not bloody and alive despite not being connected to the brain.

** "A hand?!" Nami was shocked. It was clearly Buggy's hand that was floating in mid-air. Luffy would have screamed HOW COOL IS THAT, but he was much more preoccupied in his worry for Zoro who had doubled over in pain. **

** "I ate the Chop Chop Fruit!" Buggy said, and he put himself back together. "You can never kill me with a sword! I'm a splitting man!" **

** "You can s-split yourself apart…" Nami said. **

** "Shocked?" Buggy laughed. "You should be, little girl. I'm invisible! Once I kill your old boss and his crew and YOURSELF for your INSUBORDINATION, I'll use my chart and conquer the Grand Line!" **

Wow! The amount of temerity this clown has… Garp coughed, doing a poor job of hiding his choked out 'grand line reject' insult.

Hancock just reminded herself that this clown was ignorant and couldn't help himself. The world needed stupid people like him too, right?

Marco spoke in a flat tone. "This coming from the guy who named his balls _Buggy Bombs._ "

"He had the chart in the first place. Why hadn't he sail to Grand Line already?" Carrot asked.

"Oh, I doubt Buggy was planning to set sail to Grand Line anytime soon," Shanks shook his head. This – baseless boasting where he especially knew better – is kind of embarrassing. "He's been staying in East Blue for twenty years."

Carrot wrinkled her nose. "He couldn't handle the New World?"

Shanks crossed his arms and continued to watch his old friend. "Sick of it, actually." His eye twitched when Yasopp just wouldn't stop staring at the back of his head. "Mostly."

** "His body went back together!" Nami shouted. "I thought Devil Fruits were just a myth!" **

** "Calm down—"Zoro was cut off. **

** "Never tell a girl to calm down!" **

** "Splitting man, what a freak," Luffy said. **

"A rubber man is the last person to say that," Crocodile muttered.

** Luffy got irritated as Buggy kept gloating over Zoro who had fallen to his knees. While the wound wasn't fatal, being stabbed in the gut was a serious pain. "You don't have the right to gloat after attacking from the back like a coward, you big red nose!" **

"Darn, way to go," Shanks laughed. "He could have picked _any_ insult, and he had to go with the one that makes Buggy explode."

** Sure enough, all chanting and cheering stopped in fear because Buggy's head was resembling a red grenade. "Who... ** **has...** **a..." Buggy stuttered as he shook in rage. "Big nose!"**

** He threw his curved dagger straight at the caged straw-hatted teen. His aim proved to be impeccable because the blade didn't bounce from the bars and struck Luffy at the neck. **

"Luffy-sama!" Shirahoshi's cried. Fat blobs of teardrops poured out, and Law would have been doomed to spend the next several minutes being wet (maybe hours. There was no wind or sunlight able to affect them in this strange place) had he not managed to jump away. Why does she have to be so gigantic – not that freakishly tall Law has any right to complain either. Or, well almost anyone here.

Out of every single person living in this world, only Bepo would have noticed Law was 'cross-eyed' in confusion. Almost every famous pirate or marines are abnormally tall, and he realized Lu-ya might be the only who has normal height – which is kind of abnormal and brain-frying; Lu-ya being normal.

** But the rubber man had easily caught the blade in his mouth. ** **"You do!" Luffy confidently exclaimed as he bit down on the knife, breaking it in half.**

The mermaid sagged in relief. She was too tall and much bigger than the others and unlike the other freakishly tall people who let their lower bodies sink into the roof's floor, Shirahoshi's size still only let her see everything from above, so she wasn't able to clearly see Luffy.

"How are his teeth strong enough to break steel?!" Coby asked.

"How come if he can break steel with his teeth he didn't manage to break the cage bars?" Rebecca retorted.

"I remember pulling his mouth for mouthing off," Garp rubbed his chin. "His teeth could stretch too."

"He _really_ doesn't have any right to call anyone else a freak," Crocodile smirked.

"How come he didn't manage to eat his way out of that cage?" Rebecca repeated.

Law sighed. "Mugiwara-ya could have escaped any time he wanted. He's rubber. He can just compress his body and slide out."

"Oh," Vivi grumbled. "But doing that makes him feel uncomfortable, so while he COULD, he just didn't want to."

Dugong crossed his arms and wished he could chastise such laziness.

** "I'll kick it after I kick your ass!" Then he looked directly at his swordsman. "Zoro, run!" **

"Huh?"

** Zoro caught what Luffy meant, and after a quick 'roger, captain' he ran towards the cannon. Taking advantage over everyone's confusion over Luffy's contradicting order with his intention to 'kick Buggy's ass', no one was able to stop Zoro from going under the cannon to make it easier on his stomach's wound as he flipped the cannon on its back; and now the muzzle was pointed at the Buggy Pirates. "Light it!" **

** She wasted a couple of seconds, but she was still faster than the Buggy Pirates and successfully lit the fuse. The thief and swordsman dove for cover while Luffy cheered in delight as the cannon fired straight at the pirates. **

Seeing as they were standing among the Buggy Pirates, they could clearly see the Buggy Bomb's effect. There were no body parts torn to chunks, muscles shredded, or throats screaming. By some miracle, the cannon did not injure any of the Buggy Pirates. DIRECTLY. Plenty of them dove from the building to avoid the blast.

"If Buggy's cannon actually hit them when they were clustering, this would have been a pretty brutal massacre," Marco said. "Not what I expected from Straw Hats."

"What makes you think that?" Aokiji raised an eyebrow. "As odd as they are, they're still pirates."

"Luffy just never strikes me to be someone who would partake in the killing. I saw as much in Marineford. He mostly shoved you marines out of the way."

Smoker growled and slightly moved closer to his former Fleet Admiral at the reminder of their different sides.

In the interest of preventing the budding hostility, Vivi changed the subject. "I wonder how Zoro managed to understand what Luffy meant."

"Yeah, Luffy-san just shouted at him to run away," Coby scratched his neck.

He got a nod from Ivankov. "Luffy-voy did not even make any gesture to indicate ze cannon. How curious-buru."

** The cloud dust and debris flying were a good enough cover for Zoro to turn around to Luffy's cage. Remembering the girl, Zoro absentmindedly asked her. "Who are you?" **

** "I… I'm a thief," Nami answered. **

** "She's our navigator," Luffy answered as if Nami didn't respond at all. **

…they sympathised with Nami.

** She gritted her teeth. "Idiot! I NEVER agreed! If you have time saying stupid things, why don't you use it to figure out how to get out of that stupid cage?!" **

** "No time." Zoro knelt beside Luffy's cage. He looped his arms to hold onto it, and with a shout (zero part for the encouragement and mostly from the pain) he lifted Luffy in the steel barred stone cage on his shoulders. "Time to go." **

** "Zoro!" Luffy protested. "Your stomach is going to pop out if you carry me!" **

** "If my stomach wants to pop out!" Zoro huffed, almost gurgled over the blood pouring out of his throat. With whatever strength he possessed, Zoro jumped over the roof's fence to the roof of a house that has not been demolished next to it and grunted as the weight was increased due to gravity, and he nearly knocked onto a plumbing vent. "Then let it!" Zoro's stubbornness just made Luffy feel pissed, and the rubber man began to trash at his cage. It made Zoro even  ** _** more  ** _ ** pissed and gained strength out of nowhere to jump to another roof and instead of going around, he was bullheaded enough to jump over a ridge vent and hide behind a dormer window. He perched himself on a roof's valley to spit the blood pooling in his mouth and take a breath. **

Sending a small wave of sand to make the animals shut up and stay put from their panic, Crocodile took another drag from his cigarette. "What an idiot. He knew Straw Hat was rubber."

"Cut Zoro-voy some slack, Croc-chan~" Ivankov chuckled. "As of vesterday, Devil Fruits vere practically a myth to the voy."

"Can't Zoro-senpai cut the cage bars to free Luffy-senpai?" Bartolomeo questioned.

Katakuri, who was the one to stand the farthest from the rest but now is the closest to the caged Luffy and injured Zoro, shook his head. "I think it is possible that the swordsman did not know how to cut steel during this time."

** "Those impudent fools! They dare to steal and make fun of me!" Zoro huffed as he heard Buggy shouting to the world. "Who am I?!" **

** "The pirate "Buggy the Clown", Captain!" **

Carrot mimicked Zoro cringing at the obvious ass-licking.

** "That's right! That cage took five men to bring up here! I can see quite well. These are no ordinary thieves! THIS MEANS WAR!" **

** Zoro merely rolled his eyes at how easily riled up the splitting man was and proceeded to lift Luffy's cage up again – the rubber man having already stopped trashing and opted to simply stare at Zoro. Zoro ignored Luffy's stare and continued to drag the cage with only one hand. He used his other hand to clutch his stomach's wound from leaking too much blood. **

"Why won't Luffy just slide out? He knows he can. He's been doing it since we were kids," Sabo wondered to himself.

While the Blue Gentleman was muttering, Shanks, who stood beside him, heard his confused statement. "I thought it should be pretty obvious."

"What do you mean, Shanks…" Kind of awkward. Sabo had never actually talked with the Red Emperor until now "-san."

The one-armed man waved a non-existent fly. "Just call me by name, kid. As for your question, well, Luffy could get out, but his hat would be stuck inside. It's too big to slide out."

"And Luffy would never damage his treasure," Sabo nodded.

"And breaking a solid steel bar is different from breaking a sharp, relatively thin blade."

Then they heard Zoro curse loudly.

** Zoro finally gave in and collapsed. Letting out another curse because he forgot to hold back some pain on his stomach, he turned sideways and was greeted by a white dog staring right at him. "SHIT!" **

** "Oooooooh! A dog!" Luffy exclaimed in happiness and hopped the cage to get closer to it. **

They stared.

"He can…" Coby tried to find the right words without resorting to using fillers. "Jump on his crossed legs and lift that heavy thing to the air."

"Did Zoro notice that?" Vivi asked.

Rebecca answered her. "I don't think he did."

"I'm pretty sure if Roronoa-ya noticed he would have chewed Mugiwara-ya out already."

** Zoro scrambled away lest he got licked or mauled by dog slobber, but the white dog didn't move at all. "What's with this dog?" He dragged his ass to lean back against a wooden pillar. **

** "What is this? Is it really a dog? It's not moving at all." **

** "Who cares? What it does is up to the dog! Hurry up and get out of that cage!" **

** "I wonder if it's dead…" Luffy poked the dog's eyes with his fingers. **

** And got his face bitten instantly. **

** "You u'id og!" Luffy couldn't pronounce his words clearly because his nose and eyes and mouth was stretched because the teeth dug in and tried to yank his head off. He punched its jaw, and the dog scratched Luffy's foot. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?!" **

** "Woof woof!" **

** A tick mark appeared on Zoro's forehead. "You idiot! Do you even know the seriousness of the situation here?!" His wound was aggravated further. **

It was too funny to not laugh, and Shirahoshi's laugh drowned out the rest when Luffy gave up, Zoro collapsed, and the dog went back to not moving as if it just declared itself the champion.

** "You two…" Nami spoke, walking towards them –  ** striding past through Dugong and Carue who were rolling on the ground in laughter **– "What on earth are you guys doing? If you just lie around here in the middle of the street Buggy will definitely find you."**

** "Hey, navigator." **

** "SAYS WHO?!" She sucked her breath and exhaled. Then Nami tossed something to the ground beside Luffy's cage. "I'm just repaying my debt to you because you saved my life back there." **

** "Oh! The key! You stole it!" **

** "You don't have to focus on the fact that I stole it!" Nami's irritation was ignored by Luffy celebrating. A celebration done too early because suddenly, the white dog bent its head down and swallowed the key. **

** "…" **

** "…" **

** "…" **

** "YOU STUPID DOG!" Luffy proceeded to choke the life out of the poor thing. "SPIT IT OUT! That thing you just swallowed isn't food!" **

"Oh my God... Haa…" Sabo clutched his stomach.

Even a hard ass like Sengoku couldn't hold back the humour in the situation.

"They're a riot!" Shanks laughed. "And I forgot how funny it is to see Anchor panicking!"

"I think," Coby started, "He's either panicking for himself or for the dog."

Katakuri frowned - not that anyone could see he was frowning, "Did you already forget he said he just wants to "be rescued"?"

" **DON'T DO ANYTHING TO CHOUCHOU!** " **An old man garbed in wooden armour and a spear shouted at the three teenagers as if a green-haired man bleeding out his stomach or a straw-hatted boy in a cage with his face being stretched by an angry dog was an occupational hazard.**

** "Who are you, mister?" Nami asked. **

** "I'm the village's leader, or in other words, the chief! My name is Boodle." **

** "Huh?" Luffy pulled his cheeks out of the dog's mouth and held it at bay by letting it bite his leg instead. "I thought all the people sailed away already." **

** "I managed to get some of them out, but I'm staying behind for the rest of my people who didn't manage to sneak off a boat. Young man!" Boodle finally turned to Zoro. "You are injured. That house," he pointed to the house beside the one they stopped in front of, "is my house. I'll let you sleep in there." **

** "Huh," Zoro groaned as he forced himself to stand up again. "Thanks." **

** "There's a doctor, but he's at the shelter, and I'm afraid we won't be able to go there with your injury and the pirates milling about!" The old man escorted Zoro and shortly after, he came out. **

** "Hey, this dog's name is Chouchou?" Luffy asked. "Is he yours? Why'd you leave him alone in the streets?" **

** "Chouchou belongs to my friend, Hocker," Boodle sighed, handing over a bowl of dog food he had brought out when he had entered the house to guide Zoro to the guest room. "When Hocker left one day for the doctor, he entrusted his pet shop to Chouchou. Hocker eventually died of an unknown illness and never returned. Chouchou's intelligent. He's a smart dog. Deep down, Chouchou knew his friend has passed away, but refused to move from the shop, adamant in protecting it. Look at those wounds. Even when the Buggy Pirates attacked the town, and the rest of the townspeople fled to a refuge on the outskirts, Chouchou continuously refused to budge. I would come from time-to-time to feed Chouchou, as well as try to convince him to go to the refuge." **

** "If Chouchou knows, why is he still guarding the store?" Nami frowned. **

** Boodle smiled. "Obviously, this store is Chouchou's treasure." **

Vivi wiped a tear. Only Kohza knew she was a sucker for sob stories.

** "RROOOAARRR!" **

** "What is that?!" Nami shouted. **

** "Oh, no! It's the beast trainer Mohji! RUN!" **

** In panic the two ran away, but it's like Luffy didn't even acknowledge the impending danger. Growing up in Dawn Island's forests, an animal's fierce roar was basically background music. He just pouted at the white dog. "Give me the key." **

** "…" **

** "You little thing," Luffy added petulantly. **

** "Woof." **

"How could Nami-senpai leave Luffy-senpai behind?" Bartolomeo twitched. There was ditching someone when he's purposefully being an asshole or a retarded, and then there was _ditching_ a friend.

"Barto-ya, keep in mind that Nami-ya still hates pirates at this moment," Law said.

** The dog and the boy were entirely unruffled by the appearance of a giant lion with an angry red mane. Chouchou kept standing firm in front of the pet food store, while Luffy was much more interested at the guy sitting on top of the lion… hmm… meat... **

"By the blues, he—" Rebecca face met her palm. "Lucy is seriously drooling over the lion."

Sabo let out a weak laugh. He – and Hancock too – knew why a lion wouldn't bother Luffy at all. Compared to the animals in Dawn Island's wild forest and Rusukaina Island, this lion was nothing.

** "Well, look what I just found. I'm Buggy's pirate crew member, the beast trainer, Mohji." **

Katakuri and Smoker walked away from the scene, opting to see Straw Hat's navigator and swordsman. This was just pointless gloating.

** "Hohoho… so the people you were with just ditched you?" Mohji gloated. "Poor thing, and you tried so hard to run away… Captain Buggy is pretty mad. You guys have committed a pretty serious crime…" **

** "What's that weird hood you're wearing?" Luffy ignored his monologue. **

** Mohji choked, "YOU IDIOT!" He shouted, completely losing his composure. **

As everyone does when they're confronted by the rubber man's ridiculous lack of attention span.

** "Watch what you're saying! THIS IS MY HAIR!" **

** "That just makes it even weirder." **

** "SHUDDUP!" **

** "You look like a mouse!" Luffy smiled. **

Coby had a thoughtful look on his face. Perhaps entirely ignoring threats can be an excellent way to throw away opponents' composure…

** Mohji bristled in indignation. "You are... in a  ** _** cage ** _ **. So you don't know how scary I am…" **

** "That guy…" Nami's face was pale. "He wants to die, doesn't he…" **

** "That idiot…" Boodle agreed, feet shaky along with Nami as they both hid behind an alley. **

** "I'm telling you, there is no animal in this world that won't obey me!" Mohji gloated again. He spotted Chouchou and pointed at the dog. "That includes that dog over there." Mohji jumped down his lion and extended a hand to Chouchou. "Shake a paw—" **

** Chouchou bit his wrist. **

** "AAAHCK!" **

** "You're just a nameless common thief," Mohji said after climbing up his lion again with a straight face. **

** "You gave up on the dog?" Luffy stared. **

Sengoku couldn't believe how stupid some pirates are.

** "I have no reason not to kill you. Tell me where Roronoa Zoro is." The lion growled louder. **

** "I don't wanna!" **

** "Kill him, Richie!" The lion pounced on Luffy's cage. Its considerable weight, strong teeth and claws only took a second to break the thick slab of the steel-reinforced stone cage and consequently freeing Luffy and enabling the carnivore to slam the boy straight at the house across them. "Good, Richie. Now let's find Roronoa Zoro. If I kill him, I'll get a better reputation—hmm? What is it?" Mohji recognized what Richie's next growl indicates and the building Richie was staring at confirmed his guess. "Hungry, eh? Goodness, Richie, hurry up and finish your meal." **

** But that's when the white dog who bit his hand earlier gave a growl of equal aggressiveness to Richie. **

** "Don't tell me…" **

** "WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" **

** "You're a guard dog for this tiny shop." **

** "WOOF!" **

** Richie didn't care. He swiped Chouchou away with one strike and Chouchou's shoulder bled and was further aggravated as he skidded across the path. Chouchou barked angrily and bit Richie's front leg so hard it bled despite Chouchou's tiny teeth. Richie flailed his leg and Chouchou got slammed to the pet food store's window and fell because the glass shards dug into Chouchou's back. **

** Chouchou didn't give up though and continued to attack Richie. Unfortunately, the tiny dog entirely ignored Mohji who delivered his own strike at the dog when Chouchou attacked Richie's skull. Chouchou cried out but retaliated by biting Mohji's already bitten wrist even harder, but was jostled off to the ground because Richie couldn't keep his patience anymore and ransacked the pet food store, destroying the interior. **

** Around the corner, Luffy finally arrived, casually walking. But the boy was greeted to the sight of Chouchou's pet food store burning to the ground and the dog wailing. **

** Luffy stared at the burning building. **

Shirahoshi, Vivi, Coby and Carrot were crying along with Chouchou. Smoker couldn't believe he was also feeling sad for a dog. Only Dragon noticed Sabo staring at Luffy, mumbling a curse.

His son just stood still with his hands in his pockets, and Dragon didn't need to wonder about what he wouldn't give to be able to know why Luffy wasn't comforting the dog. Luffy inherited that much from him at least.

They'd rather deal with the problem directly than waste time saying sweet nothings.

** Luffy walked away from Chouchou and had an easy time finding Mohji and Richie. He stood directly in their path. **

** Mohji was shocked. He had firmly believed Luffy was dead. **

** "You can't kill me that easily. I'm a rubber man!" **

** "So you ate one of the mystical fruits?! Doesn't matter. Showing your face here again was a huge mistake! Chomp his head off, Richie!" **

** Luffy didn't dodge. Instead, he made a weird stance; he crossed his arms in front of him as if to push something, but then his arms twisted like a spring, both hands successfully gripping Richie's cheeks. Between Luffy's strength and the big lion's, Richie has spun around in the same order as Luffy's arm twists. Half-way through the completion of Luffy's "Gomu Gomu no Tsuchi", Richie already passed out from sheer dizziness. **

"Oh, you poor lion," Shirahoshi mumbled. It should not be right to find the lion's head stuck in the rock pavement and its body upside down to be funny.

** "You—you monster! What the hell are you?!" **

** "I ate the Gum Gum Fruit," Luffy absentmindedly explained as he located his straw hat. Hmph. It keeps falling off his head… **

** "T-T-Then, you… you have a Devil Fruit power, just like Captain Buggy!" Mohji broke out in a sweat and held out his hands –  ** and Shanks was rather disappointed that so far, all of the Buggy Pirates turned out to be complete cowards. **"O… Okay! I'll give you as much treasure as you want! Please forgive me! I'm sorry!"**

** "Why are you apologising?" Luffy let his hat stay on the ground in favour of showing his irritation at Mohji's grovelling. "Nothing you can do will bring his treasure back now." As he reared his arm back, his eyes gleamed. "I came back here to kick your ass." **

_There was Straw Hat_ , Crocodile mused, _the one that was famous for his recklessness and airheadedness. Then there was Straw Hat, the quiet one – the dangerous one._

** His left hand caught Mohji's clothes – weird chest hair? – and Mohji cried in fear as his feet failed to prevent his body from being dragged towards Luffy. "Learn your lesson." **

** "HELP M—" Mohji's face was pummeled straight with a mean right hook, and his nose broke. The back of his head hit the pavement harshly, and it didn't take long for Mohji to pass out from Luffy's assault. **

Hancock hmphed, walking alongside Luffy – after picking up his hat and the dog food – who was heading towards Zoro's location. "Good riddance."

Seeing Luffy's certainty in beating up the lowlife, Law started piecing a bigger picture on Lu-ya. Law knew the Straw Hats were ruthless when it came to grudges, but he had assumed Luffy came to possess that trait because of the harshness of the life of piracy. Not something he already possessed from the start.

** Luffy heard the tail-end of Nami's furious rant. "…Same! Pirates are all the same! They just casually destroy everything people hold dear!" **

** Then she heard Luffy's footsteps. "Hm?" **

** "Oh. I see you're alive, pirate." **

"Oh, no," Vivi exclaimed. "Is she mistaking Luffy to be the one who burned down Chouchou's store?"

** "I was certain you'd be eaten by that lion." **

** "Hey…" Boodle finally spoke up. "How can you say that? Aren't you friends?" **

** "FRIENDS?!" Nami exploded and attempted to run to Luffy, but Boodle held her back. "I'LL KILL YOU! Here and now! Before you get the chance to gather crewmates and attack towns like this one!" **

** Luffy scrunched up his face and stuck out his tongue at her. "As if you could beat me." **

"Hee Haw!" Ivankov soon became too busy trying not to laugh. A task some were also struggling with unless they were sadists like the warlords and ex-warlord who smirked or Garp who never held back his amusement.

** "WHAT?!" **

** Luffy stepped around Nami. **

** "DAMN PIRATE! Let's find out, shall we?!" **

** Luffy put a yellow package in front of a still and heavily injured Chouchou. Unlike previous times, the white dog perked up this time, though it still didn't move its head, opting to stare at his destroyed treasure rather than acknowledging the straw-hatted boy's chatter beside him. "This was the only thing left!" Luffy smiled and sat down, crossing his legs. "He ate all the rest." **

** Nami blinked. The pirate… went to fight that lion… just for the dog! **

** "You did good! You put up quite a fight!" Luffy paid no mind that the dog wasn't facing him. Staring at someplace else doesn't mean it wasn't listening to Luffy. "Not that I was there to see it. But I can tell!" **

** Chouchou picked up Hocker's dog food package and walked away. He stopped to bark at Luffy in an obviously friendly manner. **

** "Yeah! Good luck to you too!" **

** "Woof! Woof!" **

** Boodle deemed it finally safe to let Nami out of his hold, now that she doesn't see to be in the mood to maul the crazy kid. **

"Oh! Luffy-sama!" Shirahoshi cried.

"That was so adorable of him!" Vivi agreed.

"Did we seriously spend a god damned hour just watching Straw Hat befriending a _mutt_?" Crocodile sneered.

"Croc-chan! It's only veen ten vinutes!" The Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom fished out his wristwatch from what-in-the-devil pockets of his elastic bodysuit and showed it to Crocodile, as if the warlord had actually been paying attention to the time to see if it really has been only a few minutes. Ivankov leered at him. "I know you just vant some love too, mmmfufufu~"

The sand Logia cringed. Of all the people in the world to know his precious weakness, it had to be THIS _weirdo._

** The dog picked up his friend's last dog food package and continued to walk away. What an intelligent dog. Nami had a feeling it knew the way to the shelter the mayor had mentioned. She turned to Luffy. Well, she wasn't a timid girl. "Hey," she spoke, "Sorry for yelling at you." **

** "S'kay!" Luffy grinned at her, and she felt a smile tugging at her lips too. "Someone precious to you was killed by a pirate." Oh, so he does pay attention to what she's saying. He had never really shown the attention span required to. "I'm sure you've got your own problems to worry about. Not that I wanna hear about 'em." **

** "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Boodle suddenly exploded out of nowhere. "IT'S JUST NOT FAIR! IT IS NOT! EVEN CHOUCHOU AND THESE KIDS HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR US!" **

Dugong made a sound to catch his princess' attention and his paw made a motion circle in question. Vivi swatted him because it was rude to ask 'did he lost his marbles?'

** "How can I, the mayor, sit by and watch my home be destroyed without lifting a finger a finger?! There are some fights a man cannot back down!" Nami berated Luffy who, instead of helping her to tell the old man to calm the fuck down, egged the man's fury. "It all started 40 years ago! This place was nothing but a simple wasteland! 'Let's erect a town here, and forget the old town that was destroyed by pirates!' At first, it was nothing but a few tiny houses! But look now! That meager village has grown into a splendid port town! A town built by all the old folks who started it years ago! We made this town!" He continued. "What kind of mayor fails to protect his own town?! I WILL FIGHT!" **

** "FIRE THE SPECIAL BUGGY BALL!" **

** The entire row of houses in front of them was instantly destroyed by Buggy, including the mayor's house. **

Smoker elbowed Sengoku. "After this, I want to treat you to none of us ending up in the hospital if we get out with our minds intact."

** "My house!" **

** "Zoro!" **

** "Here!" Zoro called out. The smoke cleared and they could see for themselves that Zoro was miraculously okay. "Talk about a rude awakening." **

** "Great! You're alive!" **

** "H…How can you still be alive?!" **

** The mayor continued to rant, to scream, to rage, and it while the other boys were just standing and watching Nami wouldn't let the old man waste his life. "This is beyond reckless!" **

** "I KNOW IT'S RECKLESS!" Boodle finally faced them and showed his tears. It was enough of a shock for Nami to let go of his hand and Boodle ran away to find Buggy. **

Ivankov _really_ shouldn't, buuuuuuut, "So~" The okama leaned to the closest marine, the ice Logia. "Vere are the marines-buru?"

Crocodile joined in, "So far, we haven't seen you protecting the innocents."

"Yes," Hancock tersely put in. "As far as we have seen here, my Luffy's been the one doing _your_ job."

Aokiji didn't acknowledge their jabs, but Sengoku felt the need to straighten these ruffians. "Contrary to what you think, marines can't be everywhere in a world where you outlaws outnumber us."

** "The mayor was crying…" **

** "Really? I didn't notice." **

** Zoro replied Luffy's smirk. "Things are starting to get interesting." **

** "Shishishi! Yup." **

** Nami growled. "This is no time to be laughing!" **

** "It's fine~ I like 'im. I won't let that old man die!" **

** "What's giving you the confidence to just stand here and laugh about it?!" **

** Luffy grin became wider. "We're goin' to the Grand Line. So we need the map. You need it too, and ya want your treasure, right?" He held out his hand. "Join my crew!" **

** Nami looked considering. **

"Finally," Garp picked his nose.

** "I refuse to become a pirate!" **

"Never mind."

** Nami slapped his palm. "Call it an alliance instead. You're a weirdo," Nami smirked. "But you can back up your weirdness." **

** His grin was blinding. "Awesome! I got my navigator!"  ** _** Best birthday ever! ** _

** "I TOLD YOU I'M NOT YOUR ANYTHING!" **

** The demolished buildings blurred back to, well, demolished buildings too but these ones were obviously different than the rest, most notably by one building that has not been destroyed – the one occupied by the Buggy Pirates. Greedy men who found some joy in terrorizing civilians who were very incensed because the thief's boss who had escaped, came back and stopped them from killing the impudent mayor. **

** Luffy and his companions ignored Buggy who was yelling threats angrily on the roof. Nami turned to them, "Listen, I don't care whether you fight or not—" **

** "I want to see if I can kill a splitting man," Zoro answered, even though Nami wasn't really asking a question. **

** So Luffy piped in as well, "I told him I'd kick his ass." **

** Nami rolled her eyes. "You guys do as you wish. I'm just here for the map and the treasure." **

** Finished spatting out the blood he got after injuring his own neck by punching Buggy's detached hand that had been choking him, Boodle gritted his teeth at the children. "All of you… What did you come back for? You three just stay out of this. This is my war! I AM THE ONE WHO MUST PROTECT THIS VILLAGE! Don't interfe—" **

Katakuri blinked.

** Luffy slammed Boodle's head to the wall. **

Inspector General Sengoku couldn't help but startle.

"What!" Vivi yelled.

"Luffy-san?!" Coby shouted.

"Smart," Hancock nodded to herself.

** "IDIOT!" Nami fretted. The pirate made Boodle's head bleeding! "What the fuck! Why did you do that to the chief?!" **

** "'Cause he'd just get in the way," Luffy's voice was smooth, and his grin was sharp. The kind Nami wasn't inclined to see again anytime soon. **

A little jarring, and the callousness plus ruthlessness made some eyebrows raise, but no one was left stunned (by the reasoning. Vivi had _plenty_ to say to Luffy for doing that to a civilian!). Everybody here knew too much about Straw Hat Luffy by now to be surprised that despite his kindness, he's really not considerate. Not when it comes to a fight. He's very selfish about the prospect of kicking asses. After said fights though…

Katakuri absently touched the fedora Straw Hat gave him.*

** "This better be a good fight," Zoro stated rather menacingly, but then he fucking yawned. **

** "This coming from the guy whose first complaint was to sleep more after getting shot by a freak bomb," Nami complained. **

** She wasn't trying to be quiet, and her subtle insult riled up the clown pirate. "So you survived after getting hit by my Special Buggy Bomb?! I'll make sure this time you're all corpses!" **

** Naturally, Luffy praised Zoro and gave no fuck about giving Buggy a clear path. **

"He'll just bounce it back," Smoker stated, beginning to get bored.

"Nah!" Garp objected. "He'll show he learned a thing or two from me and catch that thing with his bare hands!"

Shanks laughed. "We're not even contemplating him avoiding it, are we?"

** "How are you gonna try to kill us, Mr. Booger?" Luffy asked loudly to Buggy. "With that huge red cannonball attached to your face?" **

They cracked up at Luffy innocently blinking at the Buggy Pirates.

** The bait Luffy threw to Buggy was gobbled up instantly, and as a whole, the Buggy Pirates got angry. "Flashily DIE!" **

Carue tucked his head in his wings to express the duck's exasperation. _He's practically begging for it._

** The cannonball was shot towards them at speed Nami cursed for being unable to match, and she cursed her own stupidity for not moving away when the reckless boy captain started mouthing off. That same survival instinct which was shared by Zoro was ignored by the green-haired man in favour of watching his captain. He had seen the rubber man deflect bullets, but would he be strong enough to deflect something as heavy and explosive as a cannonball? **

** Expecting or not, Zoro jumped back in shock too just like Nami when Luffy started getting fatter and fatter and resembled a balloon. But the rubber wasn't thin or fragile like an actual balloon. The skin was strong, and Luffy's body deflected the cannonball with twice the speed. **

** Nami's scream was drowned by the building being destroyed, but Luffy heard it anyway and answered, "I'm a rubber man!" **

** "A rubber man?!" Nami repeated. It was outrageous! How strong he was while being so tiny. **

** "A RUBBER MAN?!" Buggy yelled out in shock. **

** "Oh," Luffy tilted his head back up. "You're still alive?" **

And many of them were dead already. Smoker eyed Straw Hat wearily. Good person or not, causing this sort of 'collateral damage' earned him jail time.

Shanks almost wanted to run and tattle to Roger. Buggy used to be just the fun friend who just happened to have a startling amount of swaggering air of pretension which marks a man who is trying to elbow his way upward in the world, and now he's… well, the same but, really, using your own crew like that? To the point, his own crew follows the shitty example? He's going to have to teach the star clown a thing or two about How to Not be an Incompetent Captain.

** "Explain yourself! I don't understand this at all! From the moment you fell out of the sky UNINJURED and fought the giant lion and come back uninjured again and now THIS! This isn't humanly possible! How the hell did you just swell up like a balloon?" **

** Luffy crossed his arms –  ** likely in an attempt to look cool; God knows how many times Ace does that too, Sabo thought **. "Gomu Gomu Balloon!"**

** "I'm not asking for the name!" **

** "The kid in the straw hat!" Someone shouted, and they turned to find that it was the guy with the weird hair. "Captain Buggy be careful of that kid! That kid also gained powers from the Devil Fruit!" **

** Mohji's warning was greeted by a chokehold from his captain's detached hand. **

** "IF YOU KNEW WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?!" Buggy threw Mohji straight at Luffy who simply kicked him out of the way right in the face – and dodged Nami's swipe because he had subsequently kicked Mohji in her direction. **

** What followed after was Buggy's commander slash acrobat, Cabaji, exploiting Zoro's wound during their little one-on-one. Nami berated Luffy for not doing anything while Zoro was getting his ass kicked by the lack of recovery time. "Why are you just watching with a silent, stone-face?! That guy's gonna die!" **

** But then Zoro blocked Cabaji's attack, the strength behind it forcing Cabaji's body to get flung away by several meters. And Luffy finally looked ecstatic, and then Zoro cut himself. **

"Zoro?!" Carrot and Vivi exclaimed, the action shocking enough even for Law to facepalm and Marco to wonder aloud, "What the heck was that for?"

** "You find tearing up my wound that much fun?" Zoro moved his hand to place one of his swords in his mouth, showing off the blood. "Is my condition satisfying now?" **

Then Zoro fell onto the ground. But it wasn't the same Zoro. This one was younger, and the swords in his hands were made of wood and counted up to two.

** "Kuina wins!" A black-haired man crossing his arms, wearing a traditional uniform for dojo trainers, called out. "Zoro, who used double swords, loses! Kuina is in the lead with 2000 wins to 0!" **

Shanks whistled. "Well isn't this impressive?"

"What is this? We see a very old memory again," Carrot asked.

"For lack of better words," Shanks said, "It's a flashback. I think they're generally shown because the guys having them are thinking of it pretty deeply in their situations?"

"You're not certain." Dragon's statement lacked the inflexion to make it into a question, but they heard it as such all the same.

"Hey, I've been at this twice only. I'm not an expert."

"You're ze only expert," Ivankov pointed out.

** "Hmph." A girl with dark blue hair –  ** looking remarkably similar to Tashigi, Smoker noted, though her name was different – **turned her back to Zoro and swung her training sword on her shoulder. "A boy… and so useless."**

** "Sensei! You've been secretly training her because she's your daughter, right?!" The kids began complaining on behalf of Zoro who, according to them, was the best in the dojo. But while they were protesting, Zoro was questioning. "Why can't I defeat her?!" **

** "Kuina is older than you." **

** "Even adults can't beat me! I want to sail and become the world's number one swordsman! I won't lose to anyone ever again!" He walked away, and the wooden swords in his arms turned into real katana, the dirty white shirt morphed into black, and the sky darkened, and the street emptied save for him and Kuina. "Kuina! Duel with me with a katana! I've brought real katana!" **

** "With me? Okay." **

** The two jumped, shadows lit by moonlight. **

The only ones who could call themselves an expert in sword art were Law, Rebecca and Shanks. Though this was a kid's fight and they were heavily biased towards Zoro seeing as they only knew Zoro who was well on his way to cementing the status of Strongest Swordsman and nothing on the girl, it was clear that she was the one with technique and skill to win this obviously unauthorized duel.

** "My…" Kuina gasped, though she barely broke a sweat. "2001st victory." **

"It's a bit strange knowing Zoro-san had been losing _that_ many times," Rebecca's lip curled up.

"Bwahahaha! You gotta start SOMEWHERE to be strong!"

Sengoku shot an ugly look at his best friend. "That is very rich coming from you."

** "Damn it! I don't believe this!" Zoro shouted, clearly upset. **

** "Actually… the one who should feel upset is me." **

** "Eh?!" **

** "When a girl grows up, she will lose out to guys in physical strength. I'm going to fall behind you people soon…" **

Smoker's eyebrows rose. This Kuina reminded him of Tashigi when she started out as a marine.

** "You wanna become the world's number one swordsman? Papa says that girls will never be the world's number one. It's good that you're a guy," tears build up in her eyes. "I want to be the world's best too! My chest has started to develop… If only I were a guy—" **

** "YOU'RE TELLING ME ALL THIS CRAP  ** _** AFTER YOU BEAT ME?!  ** _ ** THAT'S UNFAIR! TO BECOME LIKE YOU IS MY AMBITION!" **

Some of them blushed. Wow. Was that romantic.

** "Does this mean that if I beat you one day, it is not because of my strength?! Doesn't this make me who has been training extremely hard to beat you look like an idiot? Let's make a promise! One of us MUST become the number one swordsman of the world!" **

"Damn it," Shanks gushed. "Where's Hawky when you need him? He HAS GOT to see this!"

** "Let's see who can reach that goal first!" **

** Zoro's hotheadedness succeeded in bringing a smile on Kuina's teary face. Calling him stupid, she reached out with her hand and Zoro met hers. "I promise you." **

Then Kuina's form vanished, and a sleeping Kuina appeared on the now crowded, wooden floor. Zoro stayed where he stood, but the smile morphed into a blank expression.

** "Kuina… She… She fell down from the stairs… and died!" **

Shirahoshi's gasp was the loudest, but Ivankov was the one who started crying.

Dragon openly sighed, showing his sadness at that sudden, tragic turn.

** Three seconds later, the news had sunk, and Zoro exploded at Kuina's lifeless body. "YOU BASTARD! BOTH OF US MADE A PROMISE LAST NIGHT! AND NOW YOU'RE RUNNING AWAY?!" **

Law lowered his hat in sympathy. But his brain also latched onto the thought that this is something that none of them should ever witness. It's… intensely private, and who knows what the lazy but crazy first mate of Lu-ya would do if he knew they all knew about this now. His brain, used to thinking multiple things, shared Hancock's thoughts - of how they themselves would react if, probably when they found out about their own history through this memory viewing phenomena.

** "Zoro, please, don't be like this," Kuina's father calmed the boy down. "Humans are really fragile beings, Zoro." **

** Zoro tried to stop his tears, but that endeavour failed, and he fell to his knees. "Sensei! Please! Gift me with her sword!" **

** Koshiro pulled up a smile from somewhere in his depth. "Okay." **

** Zoro looked up with fierce eyes –  ** and finally resembled the swordsman they all got to know now – **"I will be even greater! I will become the world's number one swordsman, so famous that even heaven will hear of my great name!"**

Then the child quickly grew into a man. His empty hands now bloody and occupied with two swords, one clenched between his teeth, and the dojo morphed back to the streets where Zoro was fighting Buggy's sanbouchou.

** "My goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman. This? I'll teach you the level difference between us." **

** And as if Luffy's grin decided the outcome, Zoro began to trounce Cabaji in their sword fight in spite of his severe stomach wound. Luffy's attention was tugged away when he noticed Nami's footsteps. "Where are you goin'?" **

Watching the fight was no longer entertaining or gave them new insight, so they shifted their attention too. Was the redhead ditching?

** Nami halted and hastily put up a smile. "The pub you destroyed," she pointed with her thumb. "I bet the map's with Buggy, but the treasure has got to be somewhere over there. The pirates are still unconscious or dead from your attack, so I gotta—I'm gonna get it," she smirked. Though inwardly, she was desperate. **

** Arlong had just had his birthday a couple of days ago and as usual, demanded one hundred thousand Berry from Nami, despite her already paying the same amount on the first of May. She  ** _** needed  ** _ ** to make up for it quickly. "After that, I'll escape. Whether you win your fights or not has nothing to do with me." **

** "Really?" **

** "Well, I suppose if you actually win and get the map… let's cooperate again!" Then she fled. **

** And Cabaji, knowing a straight sword fight isn't going to cut it, used his tricks. With a unicycle, he showed his experience in handling gravity by wall riding upwards, taking a smooth, straight, relatively safe line because he had successfully distracted Zoro with his One Hundred Tops Typhoon. Jumping to the air, he positioned his sword for a direct stab at Zoro who was swiftly exhausted from exerting the use of his body to deflect the one hundred little attacks. **

** Then Luffy stopped Buggy's dirty move by stomping hard on the man's detached hand from interfering Zoro's fight. **

** While it also distracted Zoro, it wasn't as fatal as what Buggy was going to do, so Zoro managed to dodge Cabaji's stab, although it wasn't a graceful dodge. "Stop now. I'm tired." **

** The acrobat was enough of a dumbass to waste his time mocking Zoro, so the green-haired man easily knocked him off his unicycle and feet. "I meant I'm tired of being the opponent of someone who has such pitiful skills." **

** A graceful execution of his signature technique Onigiri and Cabaji fell. "Not a common thief. But a pirate." **

** And Zoro followed. "Luffy… I'm gonna take a nap." **

Carrot giggled, Dugong and Carue joining in. To think the intimidating swordsman started that napping habit that early! It was cute to see, and thankfully dispelled the sombre atmosphere that's been creeping in from seeing the sad parting of Zoro's female rival.

** "You mean you guys are pirates?!" Buggy yelled from a distance. **

** Luffy enthusiastically nodded. "Yeah. So hand over the Grand Line map!" **

** "A flashy weakling like you want the map? You wanna go have a sight-seeing tour there?" Buggy sneered. **

** "I'm gonna become the pirate king." **

Both Smoker and Crocodile exhaled a substantial amount of smoke. That would have earned the kid a good insult… had he not actually made it true.

** At first, Buggy could only stare dumbfounded at that matter-of-fact declaration. Then it was as if his head grew bigger and his vocal cords allowed his voice to be very, very loud. "Don't kid around! You idiotic fool! YOU become Pirate King?! THEN I'M A GOD! The person who'll get his hands on all the treasure in the world WILL BE ME! Don't even dream about it!" **

** Luffy swatted an annoying mosquito. "Shut up and skip the lecture." The straw-hatted teen readied his right arm. "You're too loud, you idiot." **

"You're the last person who can say that!" Sabo yelled.

** "You should shut it! Seeing your straw hat reminds me of a guy I knew long time ago. The impudent red-haired guy!" **

** Instead of bristling or anger or an unrealistic sudden camaraderie over a hatred of scarred red-haired man, Buggy's growl was met with an excited look from Luffy. "Are you talking about Shanks?!" **

Everyone, but Yasopp especially, could see said man puffing up his chest.

"Don't look so proud!" Garp barked.

_ Can't we just skip to Dressrosa?  _ Bartolomeo REALLY wanted to know what his idol thought of him.

** Instead of giving a straight answer, Buggy gave the boy a vague, "If I know then I know, and if I don't know then I could also not know anything at all~" It was a poor choice, considering a blunt answer is the only kind of response Luffy actually understands, and so Luffy questioned his intelligence. **

** Earning him Buggy's detached legs adorned with knife-inside-shoes'-soles spinning right at him. Luffy easily dodged it by jumping in the air, but the action made Buggy cackle because it means Luffy won't be able to dodge a barrage of knives. **

** Luckily the kid's made of rubber, and Luffy simply stretched his hand to grab a pillar and let his body be pulled to avoid Buggy's attack, making a quick work of Buggy's knife supply. **

** And the fight continued like that. Luffy being lucky that his Devil Fruit allows him to dodge fatal attacks, and Buggy's own Devil Fruit enables the clown to bypass Luffy's blows. **

One thing they could get through, it clearly showcased Luffy's inexperience in fighting another Devil Fruit user.

** A minute later, everyone could tell the table has been shifted the moment Buggy drove three knives through Luffy's straw hat. **

The red-haired man in the group either didn't realize or didn't care he was letting his haki wash over them. "He ruined my hat."

"And it's clearly fixed," Hancock huffed.

"He ruined my hat," Shanks repeated.

Yasopp scoffed in good humour. "You have no right to complain, you know. Captain, how many times have you ruined the hat too?"

The Yonko pouted.

** "That's the hat I swore myself to with Shanks!" **

** "This is Shanks's hat?! I thought it looked familiar. Me and that guy used to be in the same pirate ship. He was my comrade when we were still pirate trainees." **

** Luffy ran straight at Buggy, clearly showing he was going to punch the blue-haired man with his left fist. "Shanks is a great man. You say that he was your comrade?!" **

** Avoiding the blow by detaching his head proved useless because Luffy didn't repeat the move he had used earlier. Instead Luffy's fist dug snugly right at Buggy's— **

All the males hissed quietly in pain.

** Then Luffy kicked the same spot and sent Buggy's body onto the ground. **

They pitied the clown.

** "Dammit, how dare you treat my treasure like that," Luffy grumbled, sat on Buggy's prone form and shoved his ruined hat at the man's nose. "You even spat on it!" **

** "Puuht!" The hat had been tousled, and the dirt and dust it collected were entering Buggy's breathing system. "That's dirty, stop it!" **

** "It's your own saliva!" Luffy put the hat away in a gentle manner and then proceeded to stretch Buggy's cheeks harshly. "Shanks being your comrade… don't you dare repeat those words ever again!" **

** "Aye 'unno sorto shionship you've with 'im! Is my choice how I speak of 'im! Bara Bara—" **

** "Stay still!" Luffy karate chopped his forehead. **

"So funny!" Bartolomeo was in the lead when it comes to the hardest laughter rolling around the group.

"This is just ridiculous," Aokiji said.

"Exactly how is he an ex-Roger Pirate?" Sengoku wondered.

As if answering Sengoku's question, Buggy launched into a spiel.

** Buggy ranted about how much he and Shanks disagree on matters about pirates and treasure, how he found a Devil Fruit, how he tricked the whole crew that he ate it when he actually ate a convincing fake he had spent all night working on, how he had to hide the real Devil Fruit inside his mouth when Shanks unexpectedly jumped on him, how he got a jump scare when Shanks unexpectedly came back, and so Buggy accidentally swallowed the fruit, how the map sank into the ocean, how he survived from being claimed by the blue seas. **

** "Oh," apparently Buggy's angry undertone, seldom butchering of grammar, and excessive use of insults while telling his tale didn't stop Luffy from taking a simple point from the long story. "So Shanks saved your life." **

** "I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT PART!" His upper body floated into the air as he yelled angrily, and so he caught sight of Nami hugging a bundle filled with suspiciously shiny gold things. "YOU! Since when do you think you can fool me! Let me send you to the netherworld for stealing my treasure!" **

** "I'm not giving a single thing!" **

** Luffy blankly stared at Buggy's neglected lower body. **

Hancock's lip twitched, already guessing what was in Luffy's mind.

** He swung his left foot  ** _** upwards ** _ ** between Buggy's legs. **

Dragon let himself chuckle in amusement. His son's first sight with a Devil Fruit user was definitely funny.

Katakuri knew Straw Hat doesn't take cheap shots, but the Sweet Commander honestly didn't know Straw Hat was the type to like hitting below the belt. Inwardly, he shuddered at the thought that he might receive it too had the whim struck Straw Hat's mind.

** "Oi!" Luffy shouted, and Nami figured he was addressing her instead of Buggy because, despite the tone being the same as the one the boy used when he was beating Buggy, the clown was incapacitated at the moment, crying about his painful bottom half. "Put that treasure down and go somewhere safer else you're going to get chased again!" **

** "Put my treasure down? I don't want to!" **

** "YOUR treasure?" Buggy yelled indignantly. **

** "Of course! Since I'm a pirate-treasure thief and I just stole from a pirate, I'm telling you this treasure is MINE!" **

** "Ah." Luffy lightly slammed a fist on his right palm. "I see." **

** "I don't see any logic from that!" Buggy yelled out, though his upper body and lower body were still whimpering. "That treasure is mine! Do you think that if you steal it it's yours?!" **

** "I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong," Nami said chirpily. And at his flabbergasted expression, and at the face of Luffy's strength, she stuck out her tongue cutely. "I don't think I've done anything bad enough to be lectured by a pirate~." **

"Emporio Onna Hormone~!" Everyone yelped at the suddenness coming from the large man and could only stare in bewilderment as the man stabbed himself with his long, sharp nails stretching the impossibly sturdy nylon glove. The afro hair and arrow-head-like chin stayed the same, but everything else changed. The fat gave way to height, the weight in his belly bulged its way upwards, and the mouth shrunk to an obviously kissable pair of purple-coloured lips.

Excluding the Revolutionary Army's leader and second-in-command, as well as the sand Logia user, they were highly disturbed at seeing the disturbingly visible nether region's "metamorphosis".

"Mmmfufufufu!" The okama laughed, voice tilting between feminine and masculine. "What spunk! I think I'm beginning to like Luffy-voy's navigator!"

"No matter how many times I see that technique," Sabo muttered. "It's still bizarre."

** "Gyahahaha! You think you can win, eh?! BARA BARA FESTIVAL!" Now Buggy's body didn't look like they just got sliced by an invisible razor at its transverse plane, but all 6 feet of him was sliced into small parts. **

Looking to their right, they could see Nami panicking over Buggy's flying body parts chasing her. At the other end of the street, they could see Luffy looking very interested in one particular body part.

"I don't know if he's a genius or insane," Coby said.

"You know there's a fine line between those two," Smoker grouched.

"Bwahahahaha! I think my grandson just erased that line!"

** A devilish grin decorated Luffy's face, and he looked ten years younger as he sat down, crossed legs, tickling a foot. **

** Buggy's flying head let loose uncontrolled laughter and painful tears. **

** "How's this?" Luffy took a firm grip over the skin covering Buggy's Achilles tendon and slammed the toes on the hard pebbled ground. **

** Smoke came out of the red nose, and the teeth were gritting in pain. **

** "You're pretty tough…" Luffy pinched the heel and dug his short nails on the skin. **

** "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" **

** "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Nami screamed in fright. In a desperate attempt, she swung the heavy bag of gold at the flying head. But Buggy was fast in using his dismembered hands to stop it from slamming his face. Pity for him, he wasn't fast enough to stop Luffy from slamming his face. **

** "Yoohoo~" Luffy whistled, happy that he managed to pickpocket the guy's pants when he kicked his nuts. "I got the map!" **

** "Wait! Rubber man!" **

** "Eeeeeeh, you're still alive?" Luffy repeated his question from when he had reflected Buggy's Special Cannon Ball. **

** Buggy's head bristled in anger. "I'll kill you once and for all! Gather up! Bara Bara Parts!" **

Every single one of them, Coby, Garp, Sengoku, Smoker, even the lazy as shit ice Logia, the royalties and pirates and revolutionaries laughed out loud. None as loud as Shanks.

** Buggy was ridiculous! Two pairs of short feet that lacked legs and hands that lacked arms attached themselves to the section where Buggy's shoulders were supposed to connect to his neck. The result was a short clown in an orange cape, being stared down by Monkey D. Luffy who was the third shortest person of the future Straw Hat Pirates. **

** Highly amused to see Nami had been cleverly quick to tie up Buggy's body parts super tight, Luffy happily sent Buggy to get lost with a Gomu Gomu no Bazooka. **

** "What have you done?!" **

** "Mayor?!" **

** "Chief Boodle!" **

** "Goodness gracious!" **

** "It's definitely the work of those pirates!" **

** "Ah, sorry," Luffy's voice somehow carried out to the townspeople who arrived with wooden bats and rakes. "I did that to the chief." **

Law wanted to facepalm.

** "Why'd you answer it like that?!" Nami yelled. **

** "But it's the truth?" Luffy stared at her in confusion. **

** "Who the hell are you?!" The townspeople yelled. **

** "We are pirates." **

** "WHY'D YOU ANSWER IT  ** _** LIKE THAT?! ** _ ** " **

** "But it's the truth!" **

** Despite his pain, Zoro laughed at the idiocy of everything, going on despite Luffy's manhandling as they escaped the incensed people of Orange Town. **

** "Why the hell did you make the situation more complicated?!" Nami berated him. **

** "This is a good village!" **

** "What?" That wasn't an answer! What's with the non-sequitor? **

** From the corner of his eyes, Zoro spied Luffy's happy grin. "For their chief, just one person, they're all getting that mad~!" **

Vivi could only slump in exasperation and fondness. Coby sported a look of awe which was shared by Bartolomeo. "Luffy-san/senpai…"

** "Shishishi! No matter what excuse we give, they'll still be mad at us!" **

** Slipping into an alleyway, Zoro's limp legs would have been caught by the nearest makeshift weapon had Chouchou didn't growl loudly and barked at his people. The tiny cute dog, barking menacingly along with the equally angry but confused townspeople made Luffy laugh in delight. Thanks to Chouchou, they arrived at the empty harbour safely. **

Dragon spotted the giant mermaid princess' frown and, after craning his neck a little bit, saw the three Buggy Pirates crouching in the ship his son and his friends were approaching.

** All three were sent away with one scary glare from Zoro. **

_ Which they really did deserve. How stupid, petting Roronoa Zoro's head like a pet, _ Rebecca thought.

** "Oh!" Luffy perked up, seeing something from afar. "Mister chief!" **

** The white-haired mayor stopped at the edge, painting heavily. And then, forehead still caked in a small amount of blood, he lifted his head to show his crying happy face. "I'M SORRY! I OWE YOU!" **

** That brought smiles to all the three teenagers. **

** "Don't worry about it!" Luffy's grin outshone the white sail his boat was sailing with. "Just live happy lives! I left some of Buggy's treasure there!" **

** The open smile on Nami's face morphed into satanic gritting teeth. **

Dugong and Carue almost fainted because they were standing directly between Luffy and Nami.

** "YOU LEFT BEHIND THE TREASURE?!" **

** "Yeah. They'll need money to repair the village." **

** "THAT'S MY FIVE MILLION BERRY!" Her hands snaked to his neck, and Luffy only had time to grab the edge of the boat before Nami's jumping with her entire weight to his body successfully drowned him into the suddenly violent stormy seas. **

** "W-W-STOP! I CAN'T SWIM! IF YOU WANT IT SO BADLY, GO AND TAKE IT BACK!" **

** "AND WASTE MY PRECIOUS TIME AND STAMINA TURNING THIS BOAT AGAINST THE WIND AND WAVE? IF YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, I'LL MURDER YOU!" **

"I'll murder you first!" Hancock swiped Nami's head with her beautiful long legs in vain. "WITCH!"

"How cute." Sengoku actually wanted to say 'How useless.'

"Aww, Sen! What do I have to do to see that scowl off your face?" Garp laughed.

"You could at least be miserable for once," Sengoku replied smoothly.

"Cute battle," Coby commented.

"It's still strange how Buggy could be so incompetent," Marco said.

"He's prone to gross misjudgment, 's all," Shanks shook his head. "That, and I think he could have turned out better if he doesn't hate his own Power so much."

"Because of you?" Garp snorted and proceeded to pick his nose to show he was uninterested at any answer or possible comeback.

"He did turn out better, didn't he? He became a pretty strong Shichibukai, right?" Carrot perked up. "Fighting him was a pain."

"Being a Warlord doesn't make it better," Sabo sweatdropped.

"Miss navigator is still strangling Mugiwara-ya," Law brought their attention back.

"How fun-buru!" Ivankov laughed, her hand clutching her cheeks which hurt from all the laughter she released from witnessing Luffy's cute little battle with Buggy-boy.

** "I'm still angry that you told them you attacked the mayor!" **

** "But everyone always says that you always have to tell the truth," Luffy whined. **

** What should have been a short answer somehow turned into a long lecture about socially-constructed and socially-accepted politeness. Nami explained they don't really  ** _** mean ** _ ** this because you are not allowed to tell old people that they are old and you are not allowed to tell people if they smell funny or if a grown-up has made a fart and you are not allowed to say "I don't like you" unless that person has been horrible to you. **

** But all Luffy did in response was to smile cutely. "It's a mystery." **

** He screamed when she dunked his head in the water, and she pulled him out quickly once she realised he didn't have the common sense to stop breathing or closing his trap. **

Garp stroked his chin. "I don't know if I should praise that girl or give her some crackers."

"Why… crackers?" Coby asked.

"The redhead's very stressed."

"That's the general disease that afflicts everyone who came into contact with your grandson," Crocodile said.

The ex-Shichibukai tilted his head and caught the Inspector General's attention. "You think Garp-ya's stupid."

"I'm not saying he's not smart," Sengoku defended.

"His grandson almost got drowned," Hancock hissed.

"Murdered by his own crew no less," Katakuri looked thoughtful.

"He thinks food is a universal remedy," Law deadpanned. "Now I know where Mugiwara-ya got that idea in his head."

** "So where to navigator?" **

** Nami muttered about selective hearing. "Look, I'll join your crew… if you can hold your liquor," Nami smirked. "Got it?" Luffy could see nothing but the point of her forefinger at that point, seeing as Nami was shoving it right in his face. **

** To which Luffy replied with a happy grin. "Yay! Drinking competition!" **

** Zoro opened one eye. "I hear booze?" **

** "I didn't mean right this exact moment you idiots, there's a storm coming!" **

** The boys looked at her like she grew a second head. **

** "It's not here yet." **

** "We're supposed to stop just cuz rain's coming?" **

** Then came some grunts, and clicks, and whistles that were vaguely playful. Between their boats, dolphins were swimming and staring at Nami too. "…You gotta be kidding me." **

** Somehow, after a weird conversation, none could really recall, bottles and mugs were distributed. Luffy and Zoro drank, the former from his mug and the latter straight from his bottle. Zoro was ** **resting by the mast pillar while Luffy was in some kind of drinking contest with a particularly intelligent dolphin who copied the way Luffy was holding the straw to drink. It had to slap Luffy's hand away when the human finished first and was attempting to put his straw into the dolphin's mug of low quality whiskey.**

** Light flashed all of a sudden, and Nami ushered the two drunkards inside the cabin – "No, Luffy, you can't invite the dolphins to sleep inside," and because when someone told Zoro to walk, with a typical amount of childishness, he felt the need to rebel and do the opposite, "No, fuck you Zoro," – when the thunder came. **

It felt WEIRD, Shanks mused, to stand/float under the rain but none of them even makes you wet, just passing through your toes and ears and eyelids.

"So we've seen Luffy recruiting his swordsman and navigator," Sabo spoke.

Bartolomeo nodded. "Yes, and the next person Luffy-senpai recruited should be Usopp-senpai."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A nod to [Fedora no Katakuri](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12868265/1/Fedora-no-Katakuri), Aurore Heart's french fic where Luffy gave Katakuri his fedora hat post-their battle.
> 
> [Because Peter Said So](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4631376/1/Because-Peter-Said-So) written by Rolletti. A fanfiction about Chronicles of Narnia showcasing the four monarchs 'forcing' England to adapt to them.
> 
> [Worlds Collide](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11456560/1/Worlds-Collide) written by IF-HBomb. A Sword Art Online story where Kirito and Asuna returned to the Other World, but in their 'Now' World bodies.
> 
> [Searching for a Saviour](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11839568/1/Searching-for-a-Saviour) by UnicornsThatGamble. Unlike the two above, this One Piece story is packed with some epic action, and my word, Luffy is so... all adjectives I can think of would count as a spoiler but this is a truly amazing piece particularly when you're still reeling over the brotherly AceLu feels TwT


	4. Lecturing the Largiloquent Liar (Usopp's Arc)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marines: Aokiji, Coby, Garp, Sengoku, Smoker  
> Pirates: Bartolomeo, Carrot, Crocodile, Hancock, Katakuri, Law, Marco, Shanks, Yasopp  
> Revolutionaries: Dragon, Ivankov, Sabo  
> Animals: Carue, Dugong  
> Royalties: Rebecca, Shirahoshi, Vivi
> 
> Happy birthday, Luffy! Come yell at me for taking so long to update this [tumblr](https://tasaccitd03.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
> Also, omg there's Number24's [Yuzuki Natsusa's compilation of adorably bullying Yasunari!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-0KA7LRevo)

“So we’ve seen Luffy recruiting his swordsman and navigator,” Sabo spoke.

Bartolomeo nodded. “Yes, and the next person Luffy-senpai recruited should be Usopp-senpai.”

“I just have one question,” Sabo deadpanned.

“Vat is it?” Ivankov asked, sitting on the ocean’s surface with her legs dipped, crossed.

His hand met his stomach. “I should be hungry by now.”

 _I should be too_ , Katakuri agreed.

“But I don’t feel hungry at all. Or have any urge to go. It’s been more than hours since we started seeing this, and we’ve been fighting for days to reach Raftel in the first place.”

The words ‘we’ve been fighting’ sent a chill down Dragon’s spine. _That’s right. They were fighting to exterminate. But for a while now, revolutionaries and marines – marines and pirates! – are being…_ to say “friendly” was misleading by a mile, but they certainly were a bit chummy.

Dragon was standing – not right beside, but – quiet close to his father. Ivankov was as brazen as ever, strutting proudly between the sand Shichibukai and ice newly-reinstated Admiral. Sabo could easily dish out an attack to the marine Coby, but they were clearly bonding over his son.

His son who was the subject of ire for the navigator.

**The water was still. They were in warmer waters. There was only a light breeze. The only cannon they had on Nami’s ship was secured, and so were all the loose items on both boats. One delicate hand on the mainsail prepared to unfurl it because Nami predicted they were going to have a storm soon. “You’re going great!” Zoro called out.**

**“I’M DOING EVERYTHING, YOU WANKERS!” Nami exploded at Zoro who was wasted on deck and Luffy who was probably still lying asleep inside.**

**Three days have passed, and Nami quickly found out Luffy’s true nature. The young captain doesn’t put up a wall around his emotions. Actually, he has neither any semblance of propriety nor any understanding of the concept of personal space. For God’s sake, he was confirming her suspicions that he has the IQ of a kumquat.**

**“He can’t be a decent leader with the way he acts like a child. He can’t sleep on his own – plus he talks in his sleep – he always has to hug one of us. He doesn’t understand the concept of rationing food. His navigating skill is limited to ‘We’ll follow where the wind goes!’” Nami mimicked Luffy’s boyish voice. “And worse! He can’t even read a map!”**

“When I see this witch, I’ll—” Hancock was the sole person who attempted to defend Luffy from the rapid-fire insults. Everyone else’s shoulders went a little slack in their complete agreement to a majority of Nami’s problems with her new captain.

A majority? Why, it’s not like most of them ever slept beside the rubber man to confirm whether he’s the cuddly and sleep talking type. And it was very ludicrous to know that the Pirate King was unable to read a map, but ultimately a funny footnote for few.

“He pretty much said the same thing when we set off here, didn’t he?” Carrot turned to Bartolomeo.

The man nodded enthusiastically. “’We shall follow the stars!’” Bartolomeo quoted happily. _Ah_ , Law had observed the Thousand Sunny when Lu-ya shouted that. The straw-hatted teen also tried to throw away the map into the ocean before he himself was dunked into the ocean by his navigator. Apparently, it was a regular response because Zoro-ya didn’t dive in, and Luffy had had his feet looped around and tied himself onto a fence.

The ocean underneath them blurred a little; Nami, Zoro, Luffy were suddenly sitting out in the open. They all figured that this was another sort of “flashback” since the sun popped over to a different “location”.

**Zoro was sleeping while Luffy idly let his arms swing over the edge to touch the ocean water, apparently playing with several small dolphins. His hat was absent on his head and was instead in Nami’s hands. She held it close to her face, and for a moment it looked like she was giving it a kiss, but it turns out she was breaking the piece of string she had used to stitch it. “I fixed your hat, Luffy.”**

Sabo found it was as if they were viewing a frame by frame re-telling. Looking over, he found that from the corner of his vision everything was a bit blurry. Come to think of it, when seeing Zoro’s memory about his late friend, their surroundings were a bit blurry too. But this time, there was no motion. Nami didn’t even move her mouth, but her voice carried over aloud anyway.

**Luffy was instantly beside her, admiring the hat after shouting a quick thank you.**

**“Sure. Just be more careful next time. Wearing a straw hat is just distracting in a fight. It’s been falling off your head over and over—”**

**Then Luffy’s cheerful face morphed into panic; Luffy had apparently poked the straw hat a little too hard and his finger burst through the part Nami had just fixed.**

“Anchor!” Shanks whined.

 **“IDIOT!” Nami’s voice rang loudly while her position instantly changed from being relaxed to** **kneeling over and viciously poking Luffy’s eyelid with her sewing needle. “Since punching you would be useless,” the tiny thing between her fingers looked menacingly sharp. “This will work! Give me your hat!”**

Then the ocean beneath Shirahoshi gave way to **a beach, with Luffy and Nami’s boats already pulled over to the sand. The two were walking toward the jungle and abandoning Zoro who stayed asleep. In the jungle Nami mostly let Luffy getting under her skin with the way he points to all sorts of strange animals and calls them out with their more subtle secondary natures rather than their obvious, more dominant species.**

**“Hey look! A rabbit!”**

**“I know it’s weird, but I’m pretty sure that’s a mutant snake! Don’t grab it like that!”**

**“Wow! A lion!”**

**“That… that’s a pig, isn’t it? A weird mutant pig.”**

**“Oooooh! A deer!”**

**“That’s more of a bear!”**

There were small roars and quacks and mewls and generally, Carue could tell, the animals were torn between being insulted and being flattered by the gushing.

Dugong noticed some animals were wise enough to tell that beneath the praises of fascination, Luffy-shishou wished to eat them.

Carrot giggled, noticing the same.

Then it continued. Like sliding pictures generated by Visual Den Den Mushi they figured that Nami and Luffy had made a friend out of an odd afro-haired man called Gaimon who was stuck in a chest obsessed with getting several other similar chests on top of a cliff he had apparently spent years trying to climb up on. The man in the chest shared depression with Nami when Luffy confirmed they were all actually empty, though the man and the boy eventually laughed together over their complete inability to read an actual map. The man declined Luffy’s invitation to join his crew, and the two went back to find that Zoro was _still_ napping and somehow a monkey with a skunk’s tail sneaked onto Nami’s boat. Offended by Luffy not understanding how to read a map, Nami tried to teach it to Luffy – the monkey joined in. Monkey D. Luffy got bored quickly and went off to the boat’s edge to take a nap, entirely unconcerned that he could fall into the ocean, while the actual monkey had somehow acquired a prim hat, glasses, and a bow tie and diligently listened to Nami explaining how to read charts in-between insulting Luffy by openly comparing his intelligence with the animal’s. Lunchtime came, and the monkey escaped, swimming to a nearby island their boats passed because Luffy declared he wanted to eat it.

Crocodile, bored at the show and had favoured himself by watching the sky, saw the sun popping back to its original place five minutes ago.

**Zoro looked at her with one eye open. “Don’t complain about his sleeping habit when you’re fine with it.” He closed his eyes again and shrugged, somehow managing to do so while he was crossing his arms behind his head and leaning against the dinghy. “He’s actually a nice teddy bear.”**

**“W-Well—” Pirates! Out of the pot and into the frying pan; she ends up teaming up with pirates way too often, why can’t she find a team who were not murderers? Even marines were! “I don’t see you denying the rest! Weren’t you a pirate hunter? Was that a lie? Why do you even follow this guy?” Nami pointedly asked Zoro.**

**“I was about to be executed, but he blackmailed me and saved my life.”**

**"Oh, so he recruited a pirate hunter to be a pirate?" Nami deadpanned, huffing as she furled the mainsail. After shortening the jib, she went inside the boat’s cabin.**

**Zoro came inside one minute later, wet and soaked from the storm that Nami didn’t inform him about when she went in. Nami smirked at his miserable state while Luffy laughed at him. “Oi, Luffy, how did you meet this woman?”**

**“Oh, she set me up to die by some pirates who were chasing her.”**

**Nami laughed weakly.**

“That’s probably the best throwing someone off the plank,” Marco chuckled.

**“I-I’m sorry,” she said uncertainly.**

**“He could have died,” Zoro drawled.**

**“But he didn’t.”**

**“If I were a normal guy I _would_ have died! Shishishi!” Luffy added cheerfully. Nami wanted to ask if Luffy was _trying_ to get her killed by the increasingly annoyed dangerous ex-pirate hunter. Anything else was going to have to wait because the boat they were in suddenly screeched to a halt. Nami stood up, and after confirming that the storm had passed, she went outside – light drizzle – and frantically checked their other boat. She sighed in relief when she confirmed that it was still attached. Then she gaped at the strange, strange lagoon they seemed to have entered.**

**She knew this was a small island with a lagoon filled with big water lilies, but she didn’t know they were this gigantic.**

**“Whoa!” Luffy, the only one who ate a Devil Fruit, recklessly jumped onto a lily pad. It was strong enough to hold the weight he put on it. “So cool!”**

“It looks fun too!” Carrot followed Luffy’s example, but while she landed on a lily pad, it didn’t make any splash. Her feet felt like she just touched concrete and not the ocean. “Poo.”

Shirahoshi wanted to poke a water lily, but her finger just passed through it. “Aww.”

Smoker sweatdropped. “Does he do that often?”

“Jumping into the ocean despite being a Devil Fruit user?” Law couldn’t even make any answer sound delicate. “Wait until you see Chopper’s ‘Jumping Point’.”

**“Let’s make some lunch here!”**

**Though he was enthusiastic, Luffy didn’t contribute a single thing at making lunch.**

**In the middle of their lunch a tiger strolled in for the cooked food and not the living breathing meat bags called humans, so Nami and Zoro let it be (after a one-time screaming fest). “This tiger is so cool!” Luffy gushed, throwing his body to its side and crossing his arms behind his head. The tiger preened and even encircled Luffy’s waifish waist with its black-striped tail.**

**Its fur was inviting him for a nap. Zoro yawned and followed suit. “You like tigers, Captain?”**

**“They make great pelt.”**

Katakuri snickered at the friendly tiger’s panicked expression.

**“I fought bigger tigers! A few days ago, I hunted for the biggest tiger I could find and skinned it.” Luffy patted the tail around his waist, to the docile tiger’s fear of the sweet, but apparently violent human. “He should be back by now.”**

**“Who?” Nami asked.**

The tiny lagoon filled with giant lily pads gave way to a giant marine ship with a dog figure, championed by a buff old man laughing wildly.

“It’s Garp-san!” Coby exclaimed.

“You look exactly the same,” Sengoku observed.

“I look exactly the same!” Garp exclaimed. “I’m so old!”

“Everyone knows Garp the Fist is old!” Shanks butted in. “You’re ancient already! Leave the seas already!”

“What was that, Red-Hair?!”

**“Hurry up, you bastards! I want to see my little tyke soon!” Garp yelled at the men on board. He pointed at the huge tiger pelt decorating the mast. “Look at how tough my grandson is now! I’m already late one day to celebrate his 17 th birthday for trying to find the best present for him!”**

**A man with a grey suit under his marine coat and grey fedora spoke, “You were the one who wanted to scour New World seas to find it.”**

**“Ah, shut it, Bogard. It’s their fault for manoeuvring the special Sea King so slow!”**

“AH! I REMEMBER THIS!” Garp shouted.

“You brought a New World Sea King to East Blue?!” Sengoku berated him. He drove a knuckle to the man’s rock hard head. “You idiot!”

“I didn’t bring it to breed in East Blue, Sen, it was lunch!”

**The moment his marine ship docked Dawn Island, Garp inhaled loudly, and exhaled even louder. A huge smile fit for a predator etched onto his facial features, “LUFFY! GRANPA’S HOME!”**

**He was greeted by the sight of the villagers chuckling at him. “WHAT?”**

**“Luffy’s not here,” a green-haired woman laughed. “He remembered you almost catching Ace when you came to his seventeenth birthday! So he left straight after sending you your birthday gift.”**

**Garp exploded.**

“So that’s why you came back with a half-destroyed ship,” Sengoku deadpanned.

Garp was fuming as he saw his grandson cackling far away from Dawn Island. Yasopp recognized that they were heading to Syrup Island, and practically vibrated from where he was standing.

Their surroundings changed. The wreckage Garp left behind morphed to the shore of a small East Blue Island.

**Luffy, Zoro, and Nami went to a part of Syrup Island where there was a lot of bamboo trees blocking their way. Zoro leisurely cut them down to make way. A very fat panda followed their trail, munching on the bamboos Zoro cut down. Then several projectiles shot at Luffy’s feet out of nowhere, and many pirate flags rose from bushes up above the seashore cliff, but instead of rising his hackles, Luffy cheered when an unknown figure made themselves visible and laughed at them.**

“That’s my son!” Yasopp sniffed. “I remember how skinny he was.”

“I forgot how pathetic _God_ was,” Shanks snickered.

“Who named him God in the registry?” Smoker crossed his arms.

**"I am the leader of the great nation of pirates who have conquered this village,” the figure—teenager—boasted, aiming a slingshot at them. “The Great Captain Usopp! Surrender or face my eighty-million minions! Captain Usopp says so!"**

**“You’re going to shoot us or what?” Luffy asked.**

**Usopp opened his mouth, but his voice left him when he felt the intimidating aura Zoro put forward when he slowly unsheathed his second sword.**

**The bushes rattled, and three kids jumped out screaming in fear.**

Yasopp’s eyes watered. “So cute!”

**Nami drawled, “Eighty-million minions, hmm?”**

**"Alright, I lied about all that. But, you still can't come here. You’ve witnessed my skill with the slingshot is greater than that of a pistol! My honour won't allow you to pass! That's why people call me Usopp the Proud!" As if to contradict his words, Usopp's entire body was trembling with fear. His aim remained steady, however.**

Now the eyes are incredibly shiny. “So precious!”

Shanks stepped back, creeping away from his sniper.

**Luffy grinned. He liked him. "Risk your life." Luffy said, drawing confusion from his crew and Usopp. "With that shot, you will risk your life,"**

**Luffy smiled. It… wasn’t a really nice smile. “That shot’s not for threats, y’know, it’s for action.”**

Shanks elbowed Yasopp in the ribs unkindly.

Marco stepped back, creeping away from the disturbingly smug expression.

**The moment Usopp’s eyes made contact with Luffy’s, his nerves were lost, and he dropped the pachinko from his slingshot, which tumbled off near Nami’s feet. "Just as I thought,” Usopp spoke steadily, “a true pirate's speech is much more intimidating. That's so cool."**

**“It is, isn’t it?! I got it from the best pirate there is, Shanks!”**

**Usopp staggered. “Shanks?! As in Red-haired Pirate?!”**

**“You’re Yasopp’s kid! I can recognize your nose from how many times your dad shoved pictures of you in front of our faces!”**

**“You know my dad!” In an instant, Usopp was in his face. “Tell me everything.”**

**Nami slung an arm around him, “Give us room and food _then_ we’ll tell you everything.”**

**The four teenagers went to town and ate at a small restaurant.** The place was too small to house all of them, not that it was a serious issue. Sabo, Garp, Shanks, Hancock, Bartolomeo, and Yasopp were obviously invested to trail after Luffy and Usopp. Coby, Carrot, Rebecca, Shirahoshi, and Vivi were also eager to see every part of the Straw Hats’ journey that they themselves never got to be part of before. While they reclined on whatever areas they can, intangible and invisible as they are to the people in the memory, The pirates Law, Crocodile, Katakuri, and the marines Smoker, Sengoku, Aokiji held next to no interest in listening in on pointless conversations in the past. They let themselves get dragged by the mysterious force of Raftel Island, silently frustrated with their inability to parse useful information to end this ‘memory-traveling-journey’. Dragon’s face left no hints of his contemplation, while Ivankov and Marco entertained the excitable Carue and Dugong.

**The three of them were enjoying their meals while Luffy regaled tales about the one of the Four Emperors of the Seas. Usopp’s eyes (and head) was filled with nothing but wonder, although Nami was practically interrogating Luffy for details in her disbelief of ‘friendly, awesome pirates’ that Luffy insisted as a descriptor.**

As more and more stories were heaped upon the budding sharpshooter, Garp shot a curious look to Shanks and Yasopp. “Exactly how long did you stay in my hometown?”

 **“That year was a lot of fun!” Luffy exclaimed,** conveniently answering Garp’s question.

**“It sounds like your dad spends more time with Luffy than his own son,” Zoro emptied his drink. “Weird.”**

**“Distance matters little!” Usopp said with burning determination.**

**“Yasopp definitely loves Usopp! Like I know my Grandpa loves me too!”**

Luffy’s grin got a twin echo by Garp.

**“What about your parents, Luffy?”**

**Zoro tched. “We’re not kids. If you two are still clinging to your mothers, go ahead.”**

**Nami’s smile was razor-sharp. “I love my mother and I would destroy at least seven economies for her.”**

Nearly all the marines present shivered quietly. The damages their treasuries have taken…

**“W-well, I’m proud of my old man for choosing to live a life of real adventure, and I’m going to sail the seas too!”**

**Nami’s face screamed jackpot. “So you got must have a decent, _big_ ship then.”**

**Usopp deflated. “No. This is a quiet village. I don’t think anybody here knows how to sail.”**

**“Does that include people in that huge mansion by the cliff?”**

**“Stay away from there!”**

Usopp’s sudden aggression surprised everyone.

**Usopp realized his blunder and quickly tried to excuse himself. “You shouldn’t disturb that place. A-anyway, I just remembered I have to go. Wow! We were talking for so long, Luffy! I’ll see you guys later, but as thanks, just stay and eat as much as you want! Captain Usopp, says so and everyone knows me!”**

_Big mistake!_ Everyone thought. _That’s such a terrible mistake_.

**Nami and Zoro watched Usopp ran out of the restaurant, ignoring Luffy who was ignoring everything in favour of the menu. Nami sent Zoro a questioning look, and he jerked his chin towards the window, directing their sight to a grand white mansion that stood out too much in the village.**

**All ten items on the menu were set on the group’s table, and Luffy voraciously transported them into his stomach. Suddenly, the restaurant’s door burst open to reveal three children. “The Usopp Pirates have arrived! We know you’re here!” They scrambled to the only table occupied in the restaurant, brandishing their wooden daggers at Zoro, Nami, and Luffy. “You’re the pirates who came to our beloved island this morning! Tell us what have you done to our Captain Usopp!”**

**Luffy patted his fat stomach. “The meat was _so good_.”**

**Colour drained from the kids’ faces.**

**Zoro gave them a smile, and it was definitely not friendly. “We ate him.”**

**“C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CANNIBALS!” They collectively turned to look at Nami.**

**Who wasn’t pleased with the accusation. “What?!”**

**The kids fainted.**

Rebecca and Carrot burst into laughter first, although Coby beat them by falling onto the floor, clutching his stomach.

**When the kids woke up, Nami had Zoro blocked their way with his sword.**

**They jumped. “We’re gonna die!”**

**“No one’s gonna die! We’re not cannibals and don’t you spread stupid rumours like that about me! Feel free to spread it for this meathead!”**

**“We don’t lie!” The kid with dark green hair shaped like an apple claimed.**

**“We’re not going to lie!” The kid with light purple hair affirmed.**

**“We will never lie,” the kid with light brown hair said.**

**“Ninjin, Tamanegi, Piman,” the restaurant’s waitress harrumphed. “You keep playing with that Usopp boy, and you will be liars!”**

Vivi bristled, offended on Usopp’s behalf. “That’s way too mean!”

“He probably has a reason,” Hancock glanced outside the window.

**Luffy perked up, “Hey, I hear yelling outside.”**

**The waitress approached a window and opened it, letting everyone inside to see that it was Usopp who was shouting outside. The teenager looked exhausted as he ran about the streets.**

**“HELP! PIRATES! THERE ARE PIRATES! THEY’RE GOING TO KILL US! EVERYBODY LISTEN!”**

“Does he mean Luffy?” Coby asked, confused.

**“Do the opposite: don’t listen to him. Everyone knows that boy is a liar,” the waitress sighed. “Every couple of weeks he’d shout pirates are coming to invade us. As if Syrup Village has anything of value for pirates!”**

**“Hah, but we are pirates, so he’s not lying!” Luffy giggled.**

**The waitress glared. “At least don’t mock him. The boy’s already so disturbed since his mother’s death.”**

**“Well, if he’s not lying, we can steal the other pirates’ ship?” Zoro suggested.**

**“Why are we sitting on our asses here then? Let’s—”**

**“To eat—”**

**“—go!” Nami raced out.**

**“But meat!” Luffy sniffed as Zoro dragged him by his collar.**

**“Wha—You three, pay for your food!” The waitress raged. “Captain Usopp says so, my ass!”**

The rest of them joined the others who were already outside. “Ivankov, anything interesting?” Sabo asked.

“Ozer zan Usopp-boy’s warnings being ignored, nay.”

**“Oi, Usopp!” Nami yelled out.**

**“NAMI! ZORO! LUFFY!” Usopp cried out. “THERE ARE PIRATES WHO ARE GOING TO DESTROY THE VILLAGE!”**

**“Usopp! Don’t drag other people into this! When are you going to stop lying?” An old man approached them and crossed his arms.**

**“I’M NOT LYING THIS TIME!”**

**“Quite! It’s afternoon. You’re disturbing people’s naps! Why do you always lie?”**

**Usopp just looked more stricken, and he glanced towards the large white mansion.**

Yasopp, who had been so focused and upset for his son, startled when the clear sky suddenly gave way to a dark bedroom. The quietness was too abrupt, but then quickly broken by weak, sickly coughs coming from a young girl who was lying on the bedroom. The only source of light was a single window across her bed “Ah, why are we seeing some girl’s bedroom?”

“I see Usopp!” Princess Shirahoshi’s voiced outside. By looking down, she was the only one to see a young Usopp cleverly hidden in the tree leaves, safe from the view of people on the ground.

 **“Kaya. Kaya.” Usopp knocked on the girl’s window. The blonde coughed once more and got herself up,** passing through their bodies obliviously, **opened her window and smiled. “Usopp, you came back!”**

**“Kaya, I have so much to tell you! I had the best adventure yet! You shouldn’t go to the south coast, because it _stinks_ with the body of a monster I just defeated!”**

As Usopp went on and on, it became clear that the boy was heaping lies on the girl. She clearly didn’t believe his tales of gallantry, but as her eyes continue to brighten and her happiness drove off the exhaustion on her shoulders, it was pretty clear that she was the reason for Usopp’s habit of lying. Yasopp smiled too. “My son’s childhood, huh!”

The memory continued at a rapid pace. Usopp and Kaya growing up, continuously meeting by the window where Usopp tells her stories of his adventures, getting funnier and funnier consistently.

Until she laughed a bit too loud and the two were interrupted by a butler.

Kaya faded out, but Usopp and the butler stayed in their sights, the latter visibly intimidating the former. Apparently, the butler was actually a pirate who had faked his death from the marines, Kuro.

 **“He’s a hypnotist!” Usopp said,** the memory returning back to the ‘present’ time. **“He’s going to hypnotise Kaya to leave a will leaving all her fortune to him, and he’s going to destroy the village to make it look like pirates killed her! Please help me! You have to believe me!”**

**It was night time. Usopp failed to convince the villagers and was sat on a rock, disheartened and upset in front of them. Usopp felt tears prickle seeing even Luffy's face as blank as Zoro and Nami's. "If only I hadn't been such a liar."**

Yasopp's heart went out for his son. 

**Nami sighed. "Crying isn't going to help. What are you going to do?"**

**"I WILL DEFEAT THEM!" Usopp suddenly shouted. "I'll fight them off! They'll never touch Syrup Village, my home! I'll make sure Kuro and his pirates never comes near the village and make his plan a lie!" His eyes were burning with fire. "That's the only thing a liar like me can do!"**

"THAT'S MY SON!" Yasopp cheered right into Shanks ears. 

**They blinked, then smiled. "You're actually nice," Zoro said.**

**"We'll fight too!" Luffy said.**

**"I call dibs on the treasure," Nami said.** As if that was ever in doubt. 

**Yasopp was shocked. "Y-you're going to risk your lives for me? You don-I don't need you to! I'M A BRAVE WARRIOR OF THE SEA! Just like my-" Usopp cut himself off when he noticed his legs were badly shaking. He grit his teeth and punched his legs to stop quivering. "I don't need your sympathy!"**

**"Moron, we're not helping because we're nice," Zoro grunted. "It's because you're honourable."**

**Luffy rolled his eyes. "As if we'd risk our lives for pity."**

**" We're doing this for our selves," Nami said.**

**Usopp's legs stopped shaking, and he looked hopeful. "W-what can you guys do?"**

**"Cut."**

**"Stretch."**

**"Steal."**

**The hope was dashed. "I can hide."**

**"YOU'LL FIGHT TOO, IDIOT!"**

Shanks chortled. The upcoming fight is undoubtedly going to be boring to watch. It was one thing to see Luffy's first encounter with marines and coming up against Buggy, but this Klahadore/Kuro is so far below the food chain and Shanks could already see others like Crocodile resigned to be bored to death. But, Shanks had a feeling that Luffy would prove otherwise, even this early in his journey. 

The night sky lightened. The blue sky above was peaceful while the ground below was in chaos. They saw how Usopp valiently tried to delay the pirates, even though he was a boy with next to no fighting experience, barely saving his head from being smashed thanks to Zoro's swing. They, Shirahoshi more than the others, saw how Kaya fought against her sickness and exhaustion, carrying a gun to confront Kuro and barely avoiding her head detaching thanks to Luffy's interruption. They saw how Kuro nearly slaughtered the little kids playing as Usopp Pirates, barely escaping thanks to Nami's interference. They saw how Usopp snapped the civilians out of their stupor by "bestowing" the children with the mission to protect Kaya.

**Luffy’s stretched fist slammed right onto the side of the impostor butler, Kuro, who failed to completely dodge Luffy’s long-ranged attack. For all intents and purposes, Luffy seems to be having his own fun fighting a very fast, if not particularly strong, opponent on his own while batting Kuro’s crew away because they were persistent in getting in between their Captain and Luffy’s fists. In the midst of the fight, Zoro and Usopp ran off to chase after Jango while Nami used Luffy's chaotic fighting with basically every Kuro Pirate to sneak onto Kuro’s ship to loot the treasure. Luffy was only playing around though, and the fight clearly reflected his mood because Kuro kept dissing Luffy as a stupid child, especially when Luffy started forgoing accurately throwing his fists to randomly throwing pebbles and then tree trunks.**

**The playful mood was gone when Kuro used a technique he called ‘Cat out of the Bag’. The name belied its viciousness, because Kuro began to move three times faster, blindly doling out slashes onto every possible angle. The pirate captain basically murdered his own men, not even focusing his ire at Luffy.**

Law eyed the battlefield in distaste, disgusted to see such a uselessly reckless and practically sociopathic attack. To thoughtlessly kill his own crewmates who were pleading for their captain to spare them… Law looked over to see Lu-ya’s reaction and froze.

**The underlying tone of red on Luffy’s black eyes, just a little bit, looked viciously bright.**

**Kuro finally delivered a solid slash across Luffy’s chest, but the boy merely caught the swinging arm and stretched to circle Kuro’s neck.**

**Looking at Luffy’s satisfied expression, Kuro snarled. “Don’t underestimate me, boy! I’ve merely been toying with you!”**

**Luffy grinned wickedly. “Hey, hey, you’ve been planning Kaya’s death for _three years_? You’re so lame!”**

Almost like lightning, another memory replaced the scene for a very brief moment. They caught a glimpse of a dining hall, lavishly white and frighteningly clean, and what looked like a family of three cowering on a corner, and then the memory was gone.

**Eyeing the desperately struggling man who was failing in breaking Luffy’s fingers to free his neck, Luffy hummed. “Since you like plans so much,” he trailed off, voice trailing giddily. Luffy stretched his neck, upwards and upwards until his head passed the height of Kuro’s flag. “Gomu Gomu no Kane!” His neck snapped strung, and his head rocketed downwards in a vicious speed, knocking right onto Kuro’s forehead and shattering his glasses into pieces.**

**Luffy let go of Kuro’s neck and spat out the shards that got stuck on his face.**

Law pinched his nose, wondering when he will get the opportunity to find out if Luffy’s internal organs were permanently rubber as well.

**“H-H-He beat, Captain Kuro!”**

**Luffy swept his eyes derisively at the rest of Kuro’s crew who were staring at him in fear. “You’re not even mad at your Captain?”**

**When they didn’t answer Luffy scratched his head. “You’re all sheep, aren’t you?”**

**“Luffy!”**

**Luffy perked up when he heard Nami—ankles wet from the water, shoulders supporting a bag filled with coins. “Why’d you bringing treasure? I thought we’re taking the ship!”**

**Nami shrugged, shooting a brief glance at Kuro’s head bleeding the sand.**

Similar to before, another memory quickly came and went. This time, it was Nami, presumably on Kuro’s ship, waving goodbye to a group of crassly-dressed ladies who were taking over the wheel, standing by with freshly-loaded guns, aiding Nami to get down the ladder with the heavy bag of gold.

**Nami smiled smugly at the enemy pirates. “Those ladies you kidnapped? You better surrender and beg for escort off this island because they’re gonna leave in two minutes.”**

**They gaped.**

**Luffy laughed at the change of plans. “Run! Captain Monkey D. Luffy says so!”**

**The Kuro pirates left, hauling their captain off the shore. They weren’t too far off the sea so Nami could see that each of them faced a rifle as they climbed up the ship that was no longer theirs. Nami looked fearfully at the rest of the dead bodies left on the shore, noting the slash marks that caused their deaths. “Those wounds… that pirate Kuro killed his own crew?”**

**“He wasn’t a pirate,” Luffy stated. “Pirates don’t kill their own crewmates.”**

**Nami snorted. “I wonder who the hell made you think pirates are great. This is a standard example of pirates.”**

“Yes, Red-hair, what lies did you put in my grandson’s head?”

“Hey, do you _not_ want me to downgrade the blood and gore when I told him stories?” Shanks pouted. “Besides, Luffy’s right.”

**“Where’s Zoro and Usopp?” Nami asked.**

**“They went after Bingo," Luffy cocked his head. "I don't hear Usopp screaming. They probably already saved his friend. I’m hungry. Let’s go back to that restaurant!” Luffy’s hand stretched and grabbed a bunch of coins from Nami’s bag of loot. “We can pay with this.”**

**“That’s my money, you asshole!”**

**“I contributed this time! I distracted the pirates for you!”**

**“NOOOOO!” Usopp's voice echoed from the forest.**

**Nami used the distraction to snatch Luffy's hand and make him drop her money into her bag. “So, you were saying?" She hefted the bag on her shoulder. "Let's catch up to them!"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dream-come-true version of Code Geass, [Icarus' Dilemma](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20519741/chapters/48700421) written by Love Psycho! You want Lelouch's hobby of beating nobles to bear fruit? You want to see Lelouch working on Lancelot? You want Lelouch to team up with Suzaku since Shinjuku? You want to see a canon divergence that also stays true to the spirit of R1? What are you waiting for!
> 
> [From Beyond](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12097348/1/From-Beyond) written by MsKurumi. A smooth worldbuilding fic in the Aldnoah Zero universe! Featured a female Inaho which isn't really my liking but after getting past the first chapter I can't believe I fell in love so hard to how the author builds up the characters and war/mecha universe.
> 
> [A Challenging Hostage](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12923507/1/A-Challenging-Hostage) written by wryter501. Another awesome worldbuilding fic taking place in Merlin (TV) universe. What I love so much about this is how they paced the length. Reading this is like legit watching an actual rendition of the fandom. From start to completion, it's like watching an actual movie or reading an actual novel. There are parts that I love so much and there are parts that I would love to change and it feels real.
> 
> [For Want of Izuku's Toe Joint](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11339718/chapters/25378848) written by Talavin. [If Only I Had a Heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13705821/chapters/31483173) written by LunartheDragon. [A beacon in the dark](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13616124/chapters/31261698) written by NohaIjiachi. I read all three of these My Hero Academic long fics straight in this order and they've cons (the latter two's fault mainly stems from my issues with OCs as main characters especially the cliche take of replacing Kacchan with self-assured and moral support new best friend OC) but they largely have pros (like, lots of BAMF points).


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